Michael Corella, commander of U.S. operations in the Middle East, visited the al-Tanf base on Saturday on the Syrian-Iraqi-Jordanian border in southern Syria.
According to a statement issued by the U.S. Command, Corella visited a Jaysh Maghawir al-Thawra (Revolutionary Commandos Army) compound, met with U.S. military fighters and soldiers, and inspected a Maghawir site recently bombed by Russian aircraft.
In mid-June, the Russian Ministry of Defense released a video of a target against military sites of the Maghwir al-Thawra faction in the vicinity of the al-Tanf base in southeastern Syria.
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The ministry claimed at the time that Syrian regime forces, with the support of Russian reconnaissance aircraft, had discovered the “terrorists.” It added that “a high-precision strike was launched, which wiped them out,” Russia Today reported.
Maghawir al-Thawra faction had previously published, through its official account on Twitter, photos that it said were from unknown planes targeting its headquarters. It added that “these attacks are unjustified, and only succeeded in causing minor damage to its sites, and no one was hurt.”
However, U.S. officials noted that the United States “believes that this did not happen, and the Russians simply used it as a reason to launch air strikes,” adding that “this kind of Russian provocation is rare, but not unprecedented.”
This article was translated and edited by The Syrian Observer. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.
