In RT’s exclusive interview with Syrian President Bashar Assad, the Mideast leader said in regards to the fall of Palmyra that:
“…if you look at the timing of the attack, it's related to what's happening in Aleppo. This is the response to what's happening in Aleppo, the advancement of the Syrian Arab Army, and they wanted to make this… or let's say, to undermine the victory in Aleppo, and at the same time to distract the Syrian Army from Aleppo, to make it move toward Palmyra and stop the advancement, but of course it didn't work.”
The Syrian President also hinted that Daesh’s capture of Palmyra was made possible due to material support from the US, adding that:
“…they came with different and huge manpower and firepower that ISIS never had before during this attack, and they attacked a huge front, tens of kilometers that could be a front of armies. ISIS could only have done that with the support of states. Not state; states.
They came with different machine guns, cannons, artillery, everything is different. So, it could only happen when they come in this desert with the supervision of the American alliance that's supposed to attack them in al-Raqqa and Mosul and Deir Ezzor but it didn't happen.”
Max Suchkov, Editor of Al-Monitor’s Russia-Mideast coverage as well as an expert of the Russian International Affairs Council (studio guest), Lebanese General Elias Farhat (Ret.), the former head of Lebanon’s army’s Staff and Command College and Dr. Roslyn Fuller, Research Associate, Waterford Institute of Technology commented on the issue.
We'd love to get your feedback at radio@sputniknews.com.
