Kurdish-led forces supply Assad regime with fuel, livestock

(Eqtsad)- US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have been using the Euphrates Dam near the town of Tabaqa as a bridge to transport hundreds of fuel tankers and livestock to the government-held areas, well-informed source said on Friday.

Former director of the Euphrates Dam engineer Abdul Jawad al-Sukran told Zaman al-Wasl that there are no concerns the dam which will be affected by heavy loads, but there are concerns the bridge of the hydroelectric station might be affected if loads exceed the limit." I think the maximum allowed load is no more than 25 tons at a speed of 30 kilometers per hour within the station area. "

The engineer pointed out that "it must be taken into consideration that the trucks should not be directly following each other, but must leave not less than 100 meters between the trucks.

Local sources told Zaman al-Wasl that hundreds of tanks loaded with oil with a load of more than 50 thousand liters coming from al-Hasakah crossing daily over the Euphrates dam, which may cause problems for the dam. The dam is still undergoing repairs by maintenance workshops headed by Zaki Mansurati the last director of the Euphrates dam when it was under the control of the regime.

Maintenance operations began work at the beginning of last July with the aim of operating the destroyed dam by ISIS before losing it in May.

The sources added that hundreds of these tanks carry oil, all of them bearing the plates of Damascus countryside, Damascus, Homs, Hama and Lattakia crossing daily on the Euphrates dam heading to the Syrian north and then loaded with millions of liters of crude oil and transferred to oil refineries in areas controlled by the regime.

The Euphrates Dam has been turned into a route for sheep and camels whereas earth-mounds bullet holes, rocket launchers and booby-trapped car parts are still spread over the body of the dam.

The Euphrates dam is in the northern part of al-Tabaqa city in Raqqa western countryside on the Euphrates River. The dam is 4,5 km long and more than 60 meters high. It holds behind it a large lake with a length of 80 km and an average width of 8 km. It is also an important source of electricity for irrigation water and fish resources. (Reporting by Orwa Ali)