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Derechos | Equipo Nizkor
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Derechos | Equipo Nizkor
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07Apr17
Top military brass notes only 40% of Tomahawk missiles fired hit targeted Syrian base
Only 23 out of 59 cruise missiles fired from US warships at a Syrian air base hit the target, according to Russia's data recording equipment, Defense Ministry spokesman Major-General Igor Konashenkov said on Friday.
"The combat effectiveness of the US massive missile strike on Syria's airbase was thus very low," the ministry's spokesman stressed.
"According to the data recording equipment, only 23 missiles reached the Syrian air base. The place of the fall of the other missiles is unknown," the spokesman said.
Russian radar data show that the Tomahawk missiles were fired from the US destroyers Porter and Ross in the Mediterranean between 03:42 and 03:56 Moscow time, the general said.
The Syrian army's air defense system will be reinforced in the near future to protect the most important infrastructure facilities, Konashenkov assured.
The chemical attack
The US missile strike in Syria had been planned in advance, while the chemical weapons incident was used just as a pretext, Konashenkov has noted.
"It is nakedly clear that the attack on a Syrian air base with US cruise missiles had been planned well beforehand," he said.
"For any specialist it is clear that the decision to conduct the missile strike on Syria had been made in Washington long before the events at Khan Shaykhun, which were used a far-fetched pretext. The show of military muscle stemmed exclusively from internal political reasons," the ministry's spokesman added.
Cooperation with Pentagon
The Russian Defense Ministry has suspended cooperation with Pentagon on prevention of incidents in Syria.
"We consider these steps taken by the United States to be a blatant violation of the 2015 Memorandum on preventing military incidents and ensuring security during operations in Syria's air space," the ministry's spokesman said.
"The Russian Defense Ministry is suspending cooperation with Pentagon aimed at the implementation of the memorandum."
"To protect the most sensitive facilities of the Syrian infrastructure, a set of measures will be taken in the immediate future to reinforce and raise the effectiveness of the Syrian armed forces' air defense system," he added.
Syria' losses
The US missile attack killed four Syrian military servicemen, while several more were wounded or went missing.
"According to the air base command, two Syrian servicemen went missing, while four were killed and six sustained burn injuries while combating the fire," Konashenkov said.
At the same time, according to the Syrian army command, the attack killed six people.
According to the Russian Defense Ministry, six Mikoyan MiG-23 fighter jets, a radar station and other equipment have been destroyed.
"The strike destroyed a logistics warehouse, a training building, a canteen, six MiG-23 planes in the repair hangars and also a radar station."
"The runway, taxiways and parked planes of the Syrian Air Force have not been damaged," the spokesman said
On Thursday night, at the direction of US President Donald Trump, the US forces fired 59 Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles on a Syrian military air base located in the Homs Governorate. The attack came as a response to the alleged use of chemical weapons in the Idlib Governorate on April 4. The US authorities believe that the airstrike on Idlib was launched from that air base.
[Source: Itar Tass, Moscow, 07Apr17]
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 | This document has been published on 07Apr17 by the Equipo Nizkor and Derechos Human Rights. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. |