7 US spy planes appeared off the coast of Syria
The US appears to be increasing its reconnaissance activities along the Syrian coast to monitor movements from the Russian military base there.
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US Navy P-8A Poseidon aircraft. Photo:AFP |
The Russian military flight monitoring center said today that seven US aircraft carried out a reconnaissance mission in the eastern Mediterranean region, near the Syrian coast, where Moscow's Hmeymim air base and Tartus naval base are located, according toRIA Novosti.
The military aviation monitoring agency Aircraft Spots also posted images on April 10 showing a US Navy P-8A reconnaissance aircraft patrolling very close to the two provinces of Latakia and Tartus.
Greek local sources confirmed on April 12 that the US Air Force had deployed a pair of MC-12S EMARSS and MC-12W Liberty reconnaissance aircraft to the island of Crete, about 900 km off the coast of Syria. These are two aircraft models that appeared before the US military campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The move comes as US President Donald Trump is likely seeking to form a military coalition to attack Syria after the country was accused of using chemical weapons in Douma, a suburb of the capital Damascus, killing 70 people.
Russia and Syria meanwhile warned the US against military adventurism in the Middle Eastern country, saying Washington launching an attack on Damascus could lead to "catastrophic consequences"..