The U.S. Department of Treasury announced sanctions against five Syrian companies and four individuals on allegations of facilitating crude oil shipments and financing to the Assad government, Reuters reports , citing a statement by the department. One of the targets of the sanctions are businessman Muhammad al-Qatirji and a trucking company he owns, that, the Treasury said, facilitated trade in fuels between the Syrian government and Islamic State, even though the government, with the assistance of Russia, is officially fighting this same Islamic State and most of it has been driven out of territories it occupied in Syria previously. According to the Treasury statement, Al-Qatirji’s company was also involved in weapons shipments from Iraq to Syria. Another target of the sanctions is a fuel trade network that spans Syria, the UAE, and Lebanon, securing fuel supplies to the war-torn country. One of the companies participating in this network, Abar […]