Damascus, October 24 (RHC)-- A U.S. military convoy has been forced to retreat from an area in Syria’s northeastern province of Hasakah after government soldiers blocked it, amid public anger at the deployment of foreign forces in the oil-rich region.

Syrian army troops, deployed at a security checkpoint near the village of al-Damkhiya southwest of Qamishli city, blocked the road and prevented the passage of US armored vehicles travelling along the strategic M4 highway.

The American troops were subsequently forced to turn around and go back in the direction they came from.  There were no reports of clashes or injuries.

The development came a few days after local residents of a village in the same Syrian province prevented a U.S. military convoy from passing through the community.

A Syrian official says the US will have no forces and military bases in the country in the “near future,” warning Washington-backed Kurdish militants to “take lessons” from the fate of those cooperating with U.S. occupation troops in Afghanistan.

The US military has stationed forces and equipment in eastern and northeastern Syria, with the Pentagon claiming that the deployment is aimed at preventing the oilfields in the area from falling into the hands of Daesh terrorists.

Damascus, however, says the unlawful deployment is meant to plunder the country’s resources.   Former U.S. President Donald Trump admitted on several occasions that American forces were in Syria for its oil.