According to the Pentagon, a US airman is being held in military custody for his alleged involvement in an insider attack on an American post in Syria earlier this year. The man will probably face charges in the following weeks.
The soldier was taken into custody earlier this month at the request of his commander, according to Air Force Spokeswoman Ann Stefanek, who made the announcement of the arrest on Tuesday and informed CNN.
“On June 16, an Airman was detained domestically as part of an ongoing inquiry into the strike in Green Village, Syria. The Airman’s commander decided to imprison him pending trial after carefully considering the material from the investigation,” she said, adding that while it’s “too early in the process” to speak of an indictment, the “expectation is charged could be filed within the next few weeks”.
Officials at first assumed that the strike on April 7 was the result of rocket or indirect artillery fire on an American base in northeastern Syria, where American soldiers had closely partnered with local Kurdish fighters.
Although it provided few other specifics, the Pentagon earlier this month said it had discovered evidence of the “deliberate placement of explosive devices” and that a US military member was a “potential suspect” in the incident.
The explosives used in the attack, according to two officials cited by CNN, were “not trivial” and had more detonation power than a hand grenade, while one official described them as “military grade.”
Security footage allegedly captures an unidentified individual running swiftly across the picture twice during the late-night detonation at the plant. It’s not obvious if the people in the clips are the same people.
The four troops who were hurt in the explosion received treatment for traumatic brain injuries, although none of them sustained major injuries. They all went back to work a few weeks after the tragedy.
Despite protests from the Damascus government, which has consistently objected to the years-long US army presence, the Joe Biden administration confirms a deployment of some 900 American troops in Syria, the majority of whom are stationed in the country’s Northeast.
