US claims airstrike killed 200 Russian soldiers
The US has killed 200 Russian soldiers in air strikes targeting forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
On April 12, Mike Pompeo, former CIA Director and newly appointed US Secretary of State, announced that the US had killed 200 Russian soldiers in airstrikes targeting forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in the Euphrates Valley in February.
"A few weeks ago in Syria, the Russians had a real fight. Several hundred Russians were killed," Mr. Pompeo told lawmakers during a hearing in Washington.
The US-led coalition carried out attacks on Syrian government forces in the Euphrates Valley, near the city of Deir Ezzor, on February 7.
Since then, many local sources and analysts have speculated that hundreds of "Russian special forces" and mercenaries were killed in Coalition airstrikes.
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| 200 Russian soldiers were killed in coalition airstrikes against pro-Syrian government forces?. Illustrative photo |
However, the above figures have not been confirmed by any organization nor provided any authentic evidence.
Mr. Pompeo's statement on April 12 was the first public statement by a senior US official that these rumors were true.
Pro-Syrian military experts have called Pompeo's statement part of an "escalation plan", amid rising tensions between the US and Russia in Syria.
In a related development, the US and its allies are still considering the possibility of attacking the Syrian government in response to the "chemical attack" that took place in Douma (Eastern Ghouta, Syria) on April 7.
American idiom
On April 12, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis announced that President Donald Trump has not yet made a decision on attacking the Syrian government.
"We weren't there, so I can't tell you that we have evidence of the Syrian government using chemical weapons. However, we certainly have a lot of media and social media that indicates that chlorine or sarin was used in Douma," the US defense secretary stressed.
Mr. Mattis also complained that Russia and Syria were obstructing the investigation.
It seems that the US Secretary of Defense forgot that Russia and Syria were the first to launch an independent investigation into the incident in Douma, and invited OPCW investigators to Syria.
A few days ago, Nikki Haley, the US special envoy to the United Nations, and US President Donald Trump repeatedly accused President Assad's government of being behind the attack on Douma. The US President even threatened to attack Syria many times.
But now US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis says the US needs evidence to confirm the incident. What caused the US's attitude to change so dramatically?
Does the US not want to attack Syria or can't the US attack Syria when the Russians are ready for a total war?