Russia detects signs of US preparing airstrikes in Syria
Russian general believes that the US deployment of missile destroyers to the Mediterranean and Red Sea is a sign that the country is about to launch airstrikes on Syria.
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A US destroyer launched a missile at Syria in April 2017. Photo: US Navy |
"We see signsprepare for a potential air strike. Cruise missile destroyers from the carrier strike group have been deployed in the Mediterranean and Red Seas,"TassMarch 17 quoted the statement of Senior Lieutenant General Sergey Rudskoy - Head of the Operations Department of the General Staff of the Russian Army.
General Rudskoy said this was a sign that the US could soon launch a missile strike against Syria. He also accused the US of training rebels to stage chemical attacks in Syria as a pretext to attack the government of President Bashar al-Assad.
According to Rudskoy, sabotage groups since early Marchwas sent to the de-escalation zone in the southern city of Deraa, where rebel groups from the Free Syrian Army (FSA) are based.
Earlier, US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley warned on March 12 that Washington was ready to act to end chemical attacks and "inhuman suffering". Russia said the next day that any US-led coalition attack on the Syrian army would lead to retaliation and "very serious" consequences.
In April 2017, US President Donald Trump ordered the launch of 59 Tomahawk missiles from warships in the Mediterranean Sea at a Syrian air base in retaliation for what Washington considered a "chemical attack on civilians" in Idlib.
