Russian MoD Checking Civilian Employee Over Mistakenly Attached Photos

The Russian Defense Ministry said it is examining why a civilian employee attached the wrong photographs to the statement about the collusion between the US-led coalition and the Daesh terrorist group in the area of Abu Kamal town in Syria's Deir ez-Zor province.

Tweet: The original photos released by Russia's MoD

Earlier in the day, the ministry posted and then deleted photos showing what they said were Daesh convoys in Syria.

The statement that was posted along with photos reads that US forces refused to carry out airstrikes against Daesh (ISIS) terrorists who were retreating from the Syrian town of Abu Kamal and moving in a direction of the Syrian-Iraqi border.

The ministry explained that the US-led coalition had rejected an offer from the Russian forces command to conduct a joint operation to destroy the terrorists when they were on the eastern bank of the Euphrates river in Deir ez-Zor province.

"The US side categorically refused to carry out airstrikes against Daesh terrorists, claiming that the militants were ‘voluntarily surrendering’ and now fell under the provisions of the Geneva Convention on the Treatment of Prisoners of War," the statement reads.

Moreover, the document reads that the international alliance's aircraft tried to impede the Russian Aerospace Forces planes acting in the region, in order "to ensure a safe exit of Daesh militants from Abu Kamal under the strikes of the government troops."

According to the Defense Ministry, such actions by the coalition prove that the advancing Syrian forces in the Abu-Kamal area have crippled the US plans to create a zone to the east of the Euphrates river that would be controlled by pro-American forces rather than by Damascus. The ministry noted that the plan stipulated that Daesh disguised as the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) would play the role of pro-American forces. To support their claim, the Russian military representatives said that SDF flags were found in Abu Kamal.

In the past days, the Syrian forces have been advancing toward Abu Kamal, the last major stronghold of Daesh in Syria. The operation was launched after the complete liberation of Deir ez-Zor, a city that had been besieged by terrorists for three years.

The Pentagon has previously denied that US forces work with Daesh terrorists in the wake of Russian military's claims that Washington's support for militants was the main obstacle to the elimination of terrorists in Syria.

CORRECTION: The initial article was based on the Russian Defense Ministry's initial publication. The article has been updated