Ballistic missiles target north Syria oil facilities in rare attack

Many alleged Russia and the Syrian regime were behind the attack which appears aimed at denying Turkish-backed Syrian groups from trading oil.

An unusual attack on oil facilities in Turkish-occupied northern Syria occurred on Friday evening. Locals reported large explosions near Al-Bab and Jarablus. Turkey invaded this area in the fall of 2016 in Operation Euphrates Shield. The use of ballistic missiles points to a sophisticated state-backed operation against the oil facilities. Many alleged Russia and the Syrian regime were behind the attack which appears aimed at denying Turkish-backed Syrian groups from trading oil.

Turkish media and other major reports did not speculate on who fired the missiles. Anadolu, a state-backed channel in Turkey, said that three people were. Killed and dozens wounded. It said that “ballistic missiles were fired. On Tarhin region of al-Bab district and Al-Hamran region of Jarablus district on the border with Turkey. “There are oil refining facilities operated by primitive methods in the regions where the attacks took place. Violent explosions occurred after many tankers in the area caught fire.”

In the past Russia has targeted oil facilities in Syria used by ISIS. In 2015 Russia accused Turkey of shooting down a Russian plane out of a desire to protect “oil supply lines to Turkish territory” that come from ISIS-held areas. In December 2015 Russia carried out airstrikes on areas where ISIS was conducting oil trade.

The missile strikes on March 5 were large and included video after that showed explosions. Those videos appeared online on the evening of Friday. Ballistic missiles have been used increasingly in the region. Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen often fire ballistic missiles at Saudi Arabia. Iran has also been testing better and more precise missiles.  Russia, like Iran, is a ballistic missile powerhouse. However the use of these kind of missiles has been rare in recent years in Syria. Russia has hosted talks on Syria with Iran and Turkey in what is called the Astana process. Russia and Turkey have worked on various deals in Syria, in September 2018 of Idlib, in October 2019 over areas of northern Syria that the US withdrew from and in the spring of 2020 after clashes between Turkey and the Syrian regime. Russia and Turkey have done joint patrols.

However, the Syrian regime and Russia both argue that ISIS, Al-Qaeda and other extremists operate in Turkish-occupied areas of northern Syria. Turkey says it backs the Syrian National Army, however the SNA is made up of a plethora of armed militias, some of which are extremists.

On February 28 the White Helmets asserted that the Syrian regime and Russia used Tochka missiles to target an area east of Aleppo. Video posted online on March 6 show the wreckage of a Tochka missile allegedly used in the March 5 attack on the oil facilities. Video from March 5 showed the strikes and the aftermath as well as missile fragments that were found.  Online social media open source intelligence Twitter accounts asserted that the Tochka missile fragments found near Tarhine in Syria indicate Russia was behind the attack. Others said it was the Syrian regime. Likely such a large attack would not happen without both being aware of it, regardless of which forces fired the missiles. Some said the missile likely were fired from the Kuweireis air base which is 30km east of Aleppo.

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