Moscow, October 5 (RHC)-- Russia has accused the U.S. forces of providing intelligence to the Daesh Takfiri terrorists in eastern Syria, saying Washington is clearly "flirting" with the terrorist group.  Major General Igor Konashenkov, a spokesman for Russia’s Defense Ministry, said on Wednesday that "the main obstacle to completing the defeat of Islamic State (Daesh) in Syria is not the military capability of the terrorists but the support for them, and flirtation with them, by the United States.” 

Konashenkov made the comments after a group of Syrian forces came under a series of attacks by Daesh in the province of Dayr al-Zawr, where Syria is trying to push the terrorists out of their last strongholds in the region.  The Russian general said the attacks on the Syrian government forces had come from an area near the border with Jordan where the US maintains a military mission. 

The spokesman for Russia's defense ministry said Daesh had the precise coordinates of the Syrian forces before the attack and that such information could only have been obtained through aerial reconnaissance.  “If the United States views such operations as unforeseen ‘coincidences,’ then the Russian air force in Syria is prepared to begin the complete destruction of all such ‘coincidences’ in the zones under their control,” Konashenkov said. 

Russia has been a major backer of Syria’s fight against terrorists over the past two years.  The U.S. and allies in the West have repeatedly criticized Russia’s assistance, which came at an official request by Damascus in September 2015 and has led to crucial wins against militants. 

Syria’s anti-terror fight continues in Dayr al-Zawr, where Daesh was pushed back to areas near the border with Jordan after its three-year-long siege on the provincial capital city broke last month.