DAMASCUS, SYRIA (5:20 A.M.) – Footage emerged on Saturday of Iraqi pro-government fighters using anti-aircraft weaponry to shoot at US coalition jets near the Al-Tanf border crossing in eastern Homs.
The amateur video was published by a fighter of the Badr Movement, an Iraqi contingent which operates alongside the Syrian Arab Army (SAA), Syrian Social Nationalist Party (SSNP), 313 Forces (Syrian militia), Hezbollah (Lebanese paramilitary), Harakat al-Abdal (Iraqi paramilitary), Kata’ib al-Imam Ali (Iraqi paramilitary), Kata’ib Hezbollah (Iraqi paramilitary) along the Damascus-Baghdad highway.
#Homs | Iraqi fighters in #Syrian desert firing at US jet. pic.twitter.com/M8ocNMz0jN
— Chris Tomson (@TheDaneChris) May 21, 2017
The Shi’ite fighters from Iraq have controversially been bombed by the US Air Force on two separate occasions; this is explained by their blitz offensive targeted an area controlled by US vetted rebels.
In the weeks to come, the SAA – heavily assisted by foreign fighters – hopes to capture the Al-Tanf border crossing. If succesful, land trade between Damascus and Baghdad will resume for the first time in years.
With more reinforcements arriving on the M2 highway frontier, pro-government forces have now advanced within 30 kilometers of the Al-Tanf border crossing.
Meanwhile, a unit of Norwegian special forces entered the Al-Tanf region to reinforce US and British troops. However, with the SAA and Iraqi volunteers fixated on retaking the border, coalition forces may be forced to abort mission.
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