Green Berets and their partner force, the Maghaweir al-Thowra (MaT), during a joint patrol mission near At-Tanf Garrison, Syria, April 29, 2020. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. William Howard)
The United States-led coalition’s main proxy group in the southeastern Syrian area of al-Tanf is planning to recruit around 2,000 new militants, the Al Akhbar newspaper reported on October 26.
Current, the group has around 300 militants, all of them are deployed at the coalition’s garrison in al-Tanf or in nearby positions. The decision to increase the group’s forces is the most recent in a series of steps meant to strengthen the U.S. occupation of the key area that lays along Syria’s border with Jordan and Iraq.
In September, the U.S.-led coalition sacked the leader of the group, Muhanad Tala, replacing him with Muhammad Farid Qassem, who is known to be a radical. This month, the coalition rebranded the infamous group by changing its name from Maghaweir al-Thowra [the Army of the Commandos of the Revolution] to the more inclusive Army of Free Syria (AFS).
Al Akhbar reported that the decision to increase the forces of the AFS was taking during a recent meeting between the group’s leader, Qassem, and Major General Matthew W. McFarlane, commander of the U.S.-led commander of Combined Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve.
According to the Beirut-based newspaper, the coalition will train the AFS’s new recruits on defensive measures against rocket and drone attacks as well as on protecting and guarding oil and gas facilities.
Some 200 U.S. troops are usually present at al-Tanf. The coalition maintains a 55-kilometer no-fly zone around the garrison. Despite of this, several drone attacks, which were attributed to Iranian-backed forces, and Russian airstrikes targeted the area this year.
With no sign of a near U.S. withdrawal from Syria, the coalition is apparently working to strengthen its grip on al-Tanf. The coalition may be also planning to push its proxies to launch a new insurgency against Syrian government forces from the area.
