Top adviser to Syria’s president warns of ‘operations’ against US troops guarding oil fields

A top adviser to Syrian President Bashar Assad is warning of “operations” against American troops guarding Syrian oil fields, saying the U.S. has “absolutely no right” to Syria’s oil.

“It is our oil,” Bouthaina Shaaban recently told NBC News, while warning of “popular opposition and operations against the American occupiers of our oil.”

President Trump announced in October that he would withdraw U.S. troops from northern Syria, saying he wanted to bring them home. He later approved a mission to secure oil fields in the country.

“He’s talking about stealing it,” Shaaban said, adding that Assad believes “our land should be totally and completely liberated from foreign occupiers, whether they are terrorists, or the Turks or the Americans.”

The Syrian government is attempting to recover the remaining rebel-held territories after years of civil war. The government has been accused of using chemical weapons on civilians at times during the eight-year-old conflict.

According to the United Nations, there has been a recent escalation of violence in Northwest Syria, causing tens of thousands of civilians to flee since Dec. 16.