Report: Syrian Govt Trying to Buy Oil From al-Qaeda Militants

With much of Syria’s oil infrastructure either in ruins from the war, or still under the control of some faction or other, the Assad government is reported to be trying to negotiate a deal with al-Qaeda’s Nusra Front faction to smuggling oil into Syria through their territory.

Details are scant, but reporters claimed that talks through brokers were offering cash to al-Qaeda for allowing the oil trucks to pass through their territory. It is unclear where this oil would be coming from, but al-Qaeda’s territory is almost entirely the Idlib Province of Syria.

Some reports suggested the oil would be coming from near Aleppo, which the government already holds, but was no more specific than that. Any oil i this area would likely have come in from Turkey in the first place, likely intended to back Turkish rebels.

It’s entirely possible that the “buying oil” accusation is misleading, and that Syria simply has people planning to smuggle in oil from southern Turkey outright, and needs al-Qaeda’s permission to practically cross the border and get into government-held territory south of Idlib.

Either way, the message is intended to be one portraying Syria as supporting a terror group, though in practice the international community has heavily blockaded Syria’s ability to buy fuel from anyplace else, and trying to run an oil-free economy in Syria is just not practical, making this the only avenue available to them.