Above Photo: A US military armored vehicle outside an oil well in Syria’s Hasakah governorate on November 6, 2019. Delil Souleiman / AFP/Getty Images.
While Syria struggles through a severe energy shortage, US occupation forces steal over 80 percent of the nation’s oil each day.
According to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), US forces established a third military base in Syria on 3 September.
The new US military base was set up in Naqara village, just three kilometers from Qamishli in the northeastern province of Hasakah.
The US has two more bases, one of them located in Himo village and another one in the Tel Fares area near the Qamishli airport.
Armed groups have recently stepped up against US occupational forces and their regional allies due to the illegal exploitation of fossil fuels.
The Syrian government has accused the United States of stealing the country’s natural resources, a staggering $107 billion since the war began in 2011.
On 29 August, US forces reportedly looted a new batch of Syrian oil, an estimated 123 fuel tankers were seen to have left the resource-rich Jazira region.
Washington has intensified its oil looting operation in Syria in the wake of its own severe energy crisis, which was exacerbated by sanctions imposed on Russia’s energy sector.
Earlier this month, the Syrian Oil Ministry released a statement saying that the US army plunders “66,000 barrels of oil every single day,” amounting to around 83 percent of Syria’s daily oil production.
Meanwhile, Syria is suffering an energy crisis at home that cripples the country’s economy and causes nationwide blackouts on a regular basis.
However, fossil fuels like oil and gas are not enough. The US is also responsible for the theft of the country’s wheat, while close to 70% of Syrians suffer from food insecurity, according to the World Food Programme.
On 3 September, renewed explosions were reported inside the US military base at the occupied Al-Omar oilfield. Despite eye-witnesses reporting the arrival of ambulances, the occupation army now claims the explosions were a result of military drills by coalition forces.