The United States has reportedly set up a new military base in Syria’s oil-rich province of Dayr al-Zawr following boosting of its troops in the Arab country.

The so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) quoted reliable sources as saying on Friday that the new US base is located in Day al-Zawr’s al-Jazrat area.

The US-based monitoring group reported that more than 300 trucks, carrying ammunition, weapons, military and logistical supplies, had entered Syria over the past few days and that most of those trucks headed to al-Jazrat.

It further said the US forces are expanding their base in the al-Omar oil field in the eastern countryside of Dayr Al -Zawr.

Recently, it added, American soldiers and other US-led coalition troops had arrived at the base.

Washington runs several military bases in Syria, mainly in northern and eastern regions where the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) are operating.
The US has been plundering Syria’s natural resources and collaborating with Takfiri militants to topple the government of President Bashar al-Assad.

The Damascus government, which is conducting a military campaign against the foreign-backed terrorists, has repeatedly called for withdrawal of the US occupation forces from Syria.

On Friday, US President Donald Trump extended for one year the "national emergency" for Syria in order to continue its occupation of the Arab country.

According to a White House statement, Trump took the decision “to deal with the unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States constituted by the actions of the Government of Syria.”

“The United States will consider changes in the composition, policies, and actions of the Government of Syria in determining whether to continue or terminate this national emergency in the future,” it said.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet warned Friday that Syria’s situation is a “ticking time-bomb” as terrorist groups such as Daesh exploit the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic to mount more attacks on civilians.

"We are receiving more reports every day of targeted killings and bombings from one end of the country to the other, with many such attacks taking place in populated areas," Bachelet said.

"Various parties to the conflict in Syria, including ISIL (Daesh), appear to view the global focus on the COVID-19 pandemic as an opportunity to regroup and inflict violence on the population."

Nearly all of the attacks have occurred in northern and eastern parts of the country under the control of Turkish armed forces and affiliated armed groups, or of the opposing US-backed SDF militants.  

Bachelet said, "If the current patterns of violations and abuses continue to spread and escalate, there is a risk the country will enter another spiral of extreme and wide-spread violence committed with impunity by all parties to the conflict."

Syria plunged into foreign-sponsored militancy in 2011. Takfiri terrorists overran parts of Syria before government forces retook almost all of them with help from Damascus’ allies, namely Iran and Russia.