A picture shows the damage in the eastern Syrian city of Deir Ezzor during a military operation by government forces against ISIL insurgents on November 4, 2017. AFP
A picture shows the damage in the eastern Syrian city of Deir Ezzor during a military operation by government forces against ISIL insurgents on November 4, 2017. AFP
A picture shows the damage in the eastern Syrian city of Deir Ezzor during a military operation by government forces against ISIL insurgents on November 4, 2017. AFP
A picture shows the damage in the eastern Syrian city of Deir Ezzor during a military operation by government forces against ISIL insurgents on November 4, 2017. AFP

Russia's use of mercenaries in Syria is causing trouble back home​​​​​​​​​​​​​​


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It was the sort of deadly confrontation many had long been feared. Americans and Russians traded fatal force inside Syria, bringing the two former Cold War adversaries into direct military conflict.

Yet although the clashes earlier this month around Deir Ezzor killed perhaps dozens of Russians, the aftermath has been marked not by escalation but by Moscow’s reticence to highlight an awkward fact of its Syrian war: growing reliance on a mercenary army.

The result is a cloud of confusion about what happened and who was responsible for an assault on the Conoco oilfield, a lucrative and strategic prize now held by US allies.

"They are clearly not interested or willing in escalating on their behalf," said Michael Hanna, a Middle East expert at the Century Foundation.The United States has confirmed that a force loyal to Bashar al-Assad and supported by artillery attacked a Syrian Democratic Forces base manned by Kurdish troops and American advisers on February 7 around Deir Ezzor.

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Its special forces responded by calling in artillery strikes, ground attack jets and B-52 bombers, which all but wiped out the "battalion sized force" in front of them.

The Russian defence ministry initially insisted it had no servicemen in the eastern province of Syria.

But details of the operation have gradually emerged, along with growing anger inside Russia that its citizens' deaths are being quietly ignored as inconvenient bad news ahead of President Vladimir Putin’s run for re-election next month.

The Conflict Intelligence Team (CIT), a respected group of Russian online researchers, has named 10 citizens killed in the US air strikes.

"The mercenaries weren't actual Russian soldiers, and moreover the operation was allegedly not reported to or approved by Russia's command in Syria," said Kirill Mikhailov, a researcher with the group. "The ministry of defence in particular tried to distance itself from the incident, saying there were no Russian soldiers there and that the local militias acted without Russian approval."

The foreign ministry finally admitted on Thursday that five of its citizens were among the dead but Mr Mikhailov said medical sources inside Syria suggested as many as 100 may have been killed.

He and other analysts believe the dead worked for the Wagner group, a Russian military contractor originally established to fight for Moscow in eastern Ukraine. CIT has reported it is linked to Yevgeny Prighozin, nicknamed "Putin’s chef" for his close ties to the president and who was indicted by the US last week for his alleged role in funding an internet troll factory.

Although the use of such arms length fighters allows Moscow to pursue its interests in Syria while offering a measure of deniability, there are questions about Wagner’s real motives. Is it working for the interests of its Russian owners undercutting the Kremlin’s aims of shoring up the Assad regime?

Last year, the Associated Press reported that a Russian company linked to Wagner had been promised 25 per cent of profits from oil and gas fields captured from militant control.

"This move against majority-Kurdish SDF actually erodes whatever trust Russia might have won with the Kurds by bombing some of their targets during the anti-ISIS operation," said Mr Mikhailov, adding that it hampered Mr Putin’s need to bring the SDF to the negotiating table before the March 18 election. "Putin must make up for failing to deliver on Russians' quality of life by projecting himself as foreign policy winner or peacemaker."

If the death toll estimates are true it would eclipse previous casualty numbers, making it more difficult for Mr Putin to continue to argue his campaign has been largely bloodless.

Relatives of the dead are demanding to know what happened.

"I want everyone to know about my husband, and not just about my husband, but about all the guys who died there so stupidly," Yelena Matveyeva told the regional news site Znak.com. "They sent them like pigs to the slaughter."

The Americans are either none the wiser or not letting on how much they know.

Jim Mattis, the US defence secretary, has promised to get to the bottom of what happened but has so far stopped short of accusing Moscow of orchestrating the assault.

Flying back to Washington after a week long tour of Europe, Mr Mattis chose his words carefully.

"I understand that the Russian government now is saying that some of their not-military forces, contractors, were involved in that still unexplained attack," he said.

"But they took directions from someone. Was it local directions? Was it from external sources? Don't ask me, I don't know.

"But I doubt that 250 to 300 people, all just excited on their individual self, suddenly crossed the river in enemy territory, started shelling a location and manoeuvring tanks against it."

Whatever the truth hidden in the fog of war, it raises the prospect of further clashes between Russia and the US as the conflict in Syria enters a new phase following the defeat of ISIL, and with Israelis, Americans, Russians, Iranians and Turks all operating inside Syria.

"My worry is not there is going to be an intentional escalation but that mistakes happen on the battlefield and these kinds of incidents can take on a logic of their own," said Mr Hanna. "It hasn't in this case, thankfully, but it's dangerous."

Name: Brendalle Belaza

From: Crossing Rubber, Philippines

Arrived in the UAE: 2007

Favourite place in Abu Dhabi: NYUAD campus

Favourite photography style: Street photography

Favourite book: Harry Potter

Syria squad

Goalkeepers: Ibrahim Alma, Mahmoud Al Youssef, Ahmad Madania.
Defenders: Ahmad Al Salih, Moayad Ajan, Jehad Al Baour, Omar Midani, Amro Jenyat, Hussein Jwayed, Nadim Sabagh, Abdul Malek Anezan.
Midfielders: Mahmoud Al Mawas, Mohammed Osman, Osama Omari, Tamer Haj Mohamad, Ahmad Ashkar, Youssef Kalfa, Zaher Midani, Khaled Al Mobayed, Fahd Youssef.
Forwards: Omar Khribin, Omar Al Somah, Mardik Mardikian.

Where to donate in the UAE

The Emirates Charity Portal

You can donate to several registered charities through a “donation catalogue”. The use of the donation is quite specific, such as buying a fan for a poor family in Niger for Dh130.

The General Authority of Islamic Affairs & Endowments

The site has an e-donation service accepting debit card, credit card or e-Dirham, an electronic payment tool developed by the Ministry of Finance and First Abu Dhabi Bank.

Al Noor Special Needs Centre

You can donate online or order Smiles n’ Stuff products handcrafted by Al Noor students. The centre publishes a wish list of extras needed, starting at Dh500.

Beit Al Khair Society

Beit Al Khair Society has the motto “From – and to – the UAE,” with donations going towards the neediest in the country. Its website has a list of physical donation sites, but people can also contribute money by SMS, bank transfer and through the hotline 800-22554.

Dar Al Ber Society

Dar Al Ber Society, which has charity projects in 39 countries, accept cash payments, money transfers or SMS donations. Its donation hotline is 800-79.

Dubai Cares

Dubai Cares provides several options for individuals and companies to donate, including online, through banks, at retail outlets, via phone and by purchasing Dubai Cares branded merchandise. It is currently running a campaign called Bookings 2030, which allows people to help change the future of six underprivileged children and young people.

Emirates Airline Foundation

Those who travel on Emirates have undoubtedly seen the little donation envelopes in the seat pockets. But the foundation also accepts donations online and in the form of Skywards Miles. Donated miles are used to sponsor travel for doctors, surgeons, engineers and other professionals volunteering on humanitarian missions around the world.

Emirates Red Crescent

On the Emirates Red Crescent website you can choose between 35 different purposes for your donation, such as providing food for fasters, supporting debtors and contributing to a refugee women fund. It also has a list of bank accounts for each donation type.

Gulf for Good

Gulf for Good raises funds for partner charity projects through challenges, like climbing Kilimanjaro and cycling through Thailand. This year’s projects are in partnership with Street Child Nepal, Larchfield Kids, the Foundation for African Empowerment and SOS Children's Villages. Since 2001, the organisation has raised more than $3.5 million (Dh12.8m) in support of over 50 children’s charities.

Noor Dubai Foundation

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum launched the Noor Dubai Foundation a decade ago with the aim of eliminating all forms of preventable blindness globally. You can donate Dh50 to support mobile eye camps by texting the word “Noor” to 4565 (Etisalat) or 4849 (du).

Hili 2: Unesco World Heritage site

The site is part of the Hili archaeological park in Al Ain. Excavations there have proved the existence of the earliest known agricultural communities in modern-day UAE. Some date to the Bronze Age but Hili 2 is an Iron Age site. The Iron Age witnessed the development of the falaj, a network of channels that funnelled water from natural springs in the area. Wells allowed settlements to be established, but falaj meant they could grow and thrive. Unesco, the UN's cultural body, awarded Al Ain's sites - including Hili 2 - world heritage status in 2011. Now the most recent dig at the site has revealed even more about the skilled people that lived and worked there.

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The biog

Family: wife, four children, 11 grandchildren, 16 great-grandchildren

Reads: Newspapers, historical, religious books and biographies

Education: High school in Thatta, a city now in Pakistan

Regrets: Not completing college in Karachi when universities were shut down following protests by freedom fighters for the British to quit India 

 

Happiness: Work on creative ideas, you will also need ideals to make people happy

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