Colonel Muhanad al Talaa, commander of the Pentagon-backed Maghawir al-Thawra group, told Reuters the eight days of drills that ended this week at the US military outpost in Tanf were the first such exercises with live-fire air and ground assault, involving hundreds of US troops and opposition fighters.
“These exercises have a big importance and have beefed up the defences of the area and raised the combat capabilities and morale and that of civilians in the area,” Talaa told Reuters by phone from Tanf, near Syria’s borders with Jordan and Iraq.
A US military spokesman said the exercises were a show of force and that the Pentagon had notified Moscow through “deconfliction” channels to prevent “miscommunication or escalate tension”.
“The exercise was conducted to reinforce our capabilities and ensure we are ready to respond to any threat to our forces within our area of operations’” Colonel Sean Ryan told Reuters in an email response to a question on the exercises.
Russia and the Assad regime have repeatedly called on Washington to pull out its troops from Tanf base, where it has declared a 55 km (35 mile)-radius “deconfliction zone” off-limits to others.
Opposition fighters say hundreds of US marines arrived this month in Tanf to join special operations troops already based in the garrison and participate in the drills, amid heightened US-Russian tensions in Syria and a naval buildup in the Mediterranean.
The “deconfliction zone” has become a safe haven for at least 50,000 civilians who live in the Rukban camp that lies within it. Russia’s defence ministry in August repeated an accusation that Washington has been harbouring ISIS militiamen within the zone.
“We are staying whether the Russians or Iranians want or not,” al Talaa added.
“The American position has changed completely towards the Iranians. Before it was just putting a line to the Iranians not to approach the areas,” Talaa added.
Tehran’s failure to end its military presence in Syria could provoke a US military response, Talaa added.
“If Tehran does not respond to the demands of the Americans there is a big likelihood they will be hit. It’s inevitable the Iranians leave Syria. This should happen quickly and in a decisive way,” he added.
The outpost, surrounded by desert, was established during the battles against ISIS militiamen who used to control eastern Syria bordering Iraq.
Tanf lies on the strategic Damascus-Baghdad highway, once a major supply route for Iranian weapons into Syria.
Control of the area has long been a goal of the Assad regime and its Russian and Iranian allies.
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