Armed Services chair: US should be 'alert' about Russian mercenaries in Syria

Source: The Hill | February 27, 2018 | Rebecca Kheel

The chairman of the House Armed Services Committee said Tuesday the United States needs to be “alert” about Russia using mercenaries to hide its activities in Syria and elsewhere.

“I do think that we ought to be alert for the potential that Russia uses some sort of mercenary forces as a way to camouflage their activities, not only in Syria, but we may well see it in other places,” Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-Texas) told reporters.

Thornberry’s comment came after a committee hearing with Gen. Joseph Votel, commander of U.S. Central Command, in which he repeatedly refused to identify the composition of the force that struck U.S.-backed forces in Syria this month, prompting a U.S. airstrike that reportedly killed and injured hundreds.

At issue is an incident in Deir ez-Zour province, where regime forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar Assad and U.S.-backed forces have been converging to eliminate Syria’s last remaining pockets of Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) fighters. The United States and Russia have agreed to “de-conflict” the area by having each of its forces stay on separate sides of the Euphrates River.

But on Feb. 7, the pro-regime forces crossed the river and launched an “unprovoked” attack on the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which is backed the United States. The U.S. military responded by striking the pro-regime forces.

Russia has distanced itself from the incident, acknowledging that some of its citizens were killed and injured but stressing that its military was not involved in the attack.

Reports citing friends of the dead and injured and unnamed officials have said “scores” of Russian mercenaries were killed or hurt. The mercenaries were apparently working for a firm called Wagner, which has been linked to a Russian oligarch who was recently indicted by special counsel Robert Mueller for an alleged role in the 2016 election meddling.

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