Ballistic missiles target north Syria oil facilities in rare attack
Many alleged Russia and the Syrian regime were behind the attack which appears aimed at denying Turkish-backed Syrian groups from trading oil.
By Seth J. Frantzman, Jerusalem Post, March 6, 2021
Missile fire is seen from Damascus, Syria May 10, 2018. (photo credit: REUTERS )
An unusual attack on oil facilities in Turkish-occupied northern
Syria occurred on Friday evening.
Locals reported large explosions near
Al-Bab and Jarablus. Turkey
invaded this area in the fall of 2016 in Operation Euphrates Shield.
The use of ballistic missiles points to a sophisticated state-backed
operation against the oil facilities. Many alleged Russia and the Syrian
regime were behind the attack which appears aimed at denying
Turkish-backed Syrian groups from trading oil.
Turkish
media and other major reports did not speculate on who fired the
missiles. Anadolu, a state-backed channel in Turkey, said that three
people were. Killed and dozens wounded. It said that “ballistic missiles
were fired. On Tarhin region of al-Bab district and Al-Hamran region of
Jarablus district on the border with Turkey. “There are oil refining
facilities operated by primitive methods in the regions where the
attacks took place. Violent explosions occurred after many tankers in
the area caught fire.”
In the past Russia has targeted oil facilities in Syria
used by ISIS. In 2015 Russia accused Turkey of shooting down a Russian
plane out of a desire to protect “oil supply lines to Turkish territory”
that come from ISIS-held areas. In December 2015 Russia carried out
airstrikes on areas where ISIS was conducting oil trade.
The
missile strikes on March 5 were large and included video after that
showed explosions. Those videos appeared online on the evening of
Friday. Ballistic missiles have been used increasingly in the region.
Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen often fire ballistic missiles at Saudi
Arabia. Iran has also been testing better and more precise missiles.
Russia, like Iran, is a ballistic missile powerhouse. However the use of
these kind of missiles has been rare in recent years in Syria. Russia
has hosted talks on Syria with Iran and Turkey in what is called the
Astana process. Russia and Turkey have worked on various deals in Syria,
in September 2018 of Idlib, in October 2019 over areas of northern
Syria that the US withdrew from and in the spring of 2020 after clashes
between Turkey and the Syrian regime. Russia and Turkey have done joint
patrols.
However,
the Syrian regime and Russia both argue that ISIS, Al-Qaeda and other
extremists operate in Turkish-occupied areas of northern Syria. Turkey
says it backs the Syrian National Army, however the SNA is made up of a
plethora of armed militias, some of which are extremists.
On
February 28 the White Helmets asserted that the Syrian regime and
Russia used Tochka missiles to target an area east of Aleppo. Video
posted online on March 6 show the wreckage of a Tochka missile allegedly
used in the March 5 attack on the oil facilities. Video from March 5
showed the strikes and the aftermath as well as missile fragments that
were found. Online social media open source intelligence Twitter
accounts asserted that the Tochka missile fragments found near Tarhine
in Syria indicate Russia was behind the attack. Others said it was the
Syrian regime. Likely such a large attack would not happen without both
being aware of it, regardless of which forces fired the missiles. Some
said the missile likely were fired from the Kuweireis air base which is
30km east of Aleppo.
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