Russian Duma: US Troops’ Participation in Ongoing Military Operations in Northern Raqqa Illegal

MOSCOW, (ST)-Head of the Russian Duma Defense Committee Admiral Vladimir Komoyedov has stressed that US troops’ participation in the ongoing operations in northern Raqqa is “illegal”.

Speaking to reporters in Moscow on Monday, Komoyedov said “the Syrian government didn’t invite the US-led anti-terror coalition members to take part in military operations in Raqqa nor it invited the American special forces to come from overseas to Syria, therefore, such a US participation rises questions about its legitimacy.”

The Russian parliamentarian clarified that the American forces’ presence in Syria is illegal, because neither the Syrian government nor the Security Council has given them the permission to do so.

He pointed out that Russia’s operations against terrorist organizations in Syria are carried out in accordance with international law and that the Russian army’s presence in Syria came under a request from the legitimate Syrian government.

Hamda Mustafa