The U.S. Army has transferred 50 tonnes of gold from former ISIS-controlled areas in Syria to the United States, a Kurdish media agency reports.
A source who spoke to Kurdish Bas News Agency, said U.S. forces transferred around 50 tonnes of gold from areas seized from ISIS in eastern Syria’s Deir el-Zour region, and gave a portion of the remaining gold to the People’s Protection Units (YPG).
The gold was allegedly transported from the U.S. military base in Kobani.
Additionally, 40 tonnes of gold bullions stolen by ISIS from the Iraqi province of Mosul was also taken by U.S. forces.
Local Kurdish sources who spoke to the Syria state-run SANA news agency claimed that the American soldiers relocated large boxes containing ISIS’s gold treasure from the region of al-Dashisheh in southern Hasakah.
ISIS leaders who were captured by U.S. soldiers allegedly provided information on the locations of the gold, the media report said.
The claim coincides with a report by the British-based Syrian Observatory of Human Rights (SOHR), which said that the U.S.-backed YPG was after 40 tonnes of gold left behind by ISIS in Deir el-Zour.
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The SOHR said: “The U.S.-led coalition forces and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) deliberately do not target the areas under the control of the ISIL terrorists and commanders in Eastern Euphrates in Deir el-Zour as they are trying to locate this treasure by forcing the ISIL militants to speak about its location after surrendering.”
Though ISIS lost many of its strongholds in Syria and Iraq, a controversial deal between Syrian Kurdish groups and ISIS fighters, provided safe passage from Raqqa.
The U.S. has nearly 2,000 soldiers in Syria, many of whom are working closely with SDF.
