© AP
A military-diplomatic source has told Sputnik that heavy smoke has recently been seen near the Rukban refugee camp situated near the Al-Tanf US military base. According to the source, it could be a sign that militants, "harboured by the US military" have intensified their activities following the announcement of the impending US pull-out.
The source believes that these militants could be burning bodies of the diseased camp inhabitants, who died of illnesses and famine because they failed to receive humanitarian aid shipments. He also suggested that international humanitarian and human right organisations will be spending years, sorting out the "legacy" of the US stay in Syria.
The Rukban refugee camp is located near the Syrian-Jordan border in the zone of responsibility of the US Al-Tanf base. Russia has accused the US base of providing safe haven for terrorists, who later conducted attacks on the positions of the Syrian army.
Comment: The US military command must be fuming. They have had no legitimate reason to hold on to al-Tanf. The area is surrounded by liberated territory. The only reasons have been to block the border crossing between Syria and Iraq, starving Syria of much-needed trade with her neighbor, and the added bonus of providing a staging ground for 'rebels' and a hiding place for ISIS terrorists. With Trump's announcement of a withdrawal, the U.S. military will lose all those 'advantages'.