(Zaman Al Wasl)- For a long time, the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have been accused of working with the regime for the discharge of oil fields products under its control, but the regime has denied this over the past years.
Activists leaked several videos and pictures of tankers transporting oil from Deir Ezzor to regime-controlled areas, although both sides continued to deny this transaction.
Zaman al-Wasl has recently obtained photographs of the main garage where hundreds of tanks owned by Muhammad Bara Katerji, of the Katerji Group, transport oil from the Kurdish-held areas through Al-Tabqa crossing.
A source confirmed that these tanks usually transport crude gas that goes directly to the Gender thermal power plant near Homs. Some of the tanks transport crude oil, which is discharged in the Homs refinery, while another section transports ready-made petroleum products (petrol-diesel) directly to Damascus, Latakia, and Aleppo.
According to the source, the number of tanks operating under Muhammed Bara Katerji is over 900 almost working around the clock, sometimes with long treks as some of them reach the Rumaila field in the far northwest, the Gypsum fields near Hasakah, or to the Omar field on the outskirts of Deir Ezzor.
After the expulsion of ISIS from the south of Raqqa, SDF agreed to allocate Al-Tabqa crossing to these large convoys, while the Katerji Group equipped a garage to assemble tanks, with approximately 200 tankers departing on each trip.
The photographs, which Zaman Al Wasl has received, confirm this information, showing more than 300 tanks at one time inside the garage, which is located northeast of Al-Salamiyah, on Athria road that leads to Al-Tabqa and Raqqa. According to the source, this garage was established at the beginning of 2018.
The source explained that the Athria-Raqqa road is the main road currently operating to transport oil to areas of the regime. Other smuggling points through pipelines through the Euphrates are "very weak" in comparison.
Zaman Al Wasl
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