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The United States has concluded Russia knew in advance of Syria’s chemical weapons attack last week, a senior U.S. official said according to the Associated Press.
Per the AP–
A drone operated by Russians was flying over a hospital as victims of the attack were rushing to get treatment. Hours after the drone left, a Russian-made fighter jet bombed the hospital in what American officials believe was an attempt to cover up the usage of chemical weapons, explained the source.
The senior official said the U.S. has no proof of Russian involvement in the actual chemical attack in northern Syria.
But the official said the presence of the surveillance drone over the hospital couldn’t have been a coincidence, and that Russia must have known the chemical weapons attack was coming and that victims were seeking treatment.
The official, who wasn’t authorized to speak publicly on intelligence matters and demanded anonymity, didn’t give precise timing for when the drone was in the area, where more than 80 people were killed. The official also didn’t provide details for the military and intelligence information that form the basis of what the Pentagon now believes.
The AP explains that another anonymous source cautioned that no final American determination has been made that Russia knew ahead of time that chemical weapons would be used.
US officials had not been sure about which country, Syria or Russia, operated the drone that was witnessed around, but the AP’s source believes it to have been the Russians. It was also reported that the same official did mention that it still isn’t clear who was flying the jet that bombed the hospital, because the Syrians also fly Russian-made aircraft.
U.S. officials previously have said Russians routinely work with Syrians at the Shayrat air base where the attack is supposed to have originated. U.S. officials say the chemical weapons were stored there and that those elements add to the conclusion that Russia was complicit in the attack.
AP’s report concluded explaining that U.S. officials previously have said Russians routinely work with Syrians at the Shayrat air base where the attack is supposed to have originated. U.S. officials say the chemical weapons were stored there and that those elements add to the conclusion that Russia was complicit in the attack.
