World

Media Sensationalize US Missile Shield Aimed at Daesh in Syria - Pentagon

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - Recent reports about the United States preparing to build a missile defense shield in northeastern Syria are not true, and the US-led coalition's air defense systems are only used to battle the Daesh terrorist group* (banned in Russia), a spokesperson for Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve told Sputnik on Wednesday.
Sputnik

"The accounts you are seeing are a mix of sensationalized misreporting and propaganda," the spokesperson said. "Coalition partners, as a necessary part of the defeat Daesh effort, have installed systems in northeastern Syria to provide vital protection and guidance to Coalition aircraft supporting the defeat-Daesh mission. Systems like these are only focused on the D-ISIS mission."

READ MORE: UNSC Must Address US Missile Defense Plans in Syria, If Confirmed – Lawmaker

The US-led coalition spokesperson was responding to allegations made by a former commander of the Deir ez-Zor Military Assembly, Fayez Esmer, who said in an interview with Yeni Safak newspaper on Tuesday that the planned missile defense shield was part of Washington's plans to sow "chaos" in the Middle East.

Pentagon Planning Missile Defense in N. Syria –Deir ez-Zor Ex-Commander
The spokesperson told Sputnik that the coalition could not speculate on what policymakers would decide to do in the country after the completion of Operation Roundup — a mission to defeat the remaining Daesh holdouts in Syria and Iraq.

On Tuesday, media reported, citing former Commander of Syria's Deir ez-Zor Military Assembly Fayez Esmer, that the Pentagon was getting ready to set a missile defense shield in Syria’s northeastern Al Hasakah and Rmelan.

The US-led coalition of more than 70 countries is conducting military operations against Daesh in Syria and Iraq. The coalition's operations in Iraq are conducted in cooperation with the Iraqi government, but those in Syria are not authorized by the government of President Bashar Assad or the United Nations Security Council.

*Daesh (also known as ISIS/ISIL/IS) is a terrorist group banned in Russia

Discuss