Syrian Civil War

Theresa May: Russia and Syria Are Blocking Evidence of Gas Attack

Using the ridiculous excuse of “Security Issues”, the Russians and Syrians are blocking the efforts of the OPCW (Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons) to gather evidence are actively trying “to conceal the facts” of the latest chemical weapons attack, according to the United Kingdom Prime Minister Theresa May.

“The Syrian regime has reportedly been seeking to conceal the evidence by searching evacuees from Douma to ensure samples are not being smuggled from this area, and a wider operation to conceal the facts of the attack is underway, supported by the Russians,” May told the British House of Commons on Monday.
May aired that accusation after the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons announced that a team of investigators had deployed to Syria, only to be barred from the site of the attack due to “pending security issues.” The role of the OPCW investigators has been a central part of the debate between Russian and western diplomats over the last several days, as Russia denied that any gas attack had taken place and tried to forestall western airstrikes against Syrian President Bashar Assad’s regime.
“It would be possible to make greater efforts on the ground to establish now what has happened in Douma if Russia and the regime were not blocking the opportunity for the OPCW to go to the site, and if efforts were not being made by the regime to ensure that material from the site is not available for that sort of analysis,” May added.
Russian officials maintain that the United Kingdom faked the apparent evidence for the latest attack, which reportedly killed dozens of civilians and injured hundreds more, and then rushed to attack Assad before the OPCW investigation could take place.
“We do not think that these reports could be falsified on this scale,” she said. “The opposition does not operate helicopters or use barrel bombs. [ISIS] does not even have a presence in Douma, and the reports of this attack are consistent with previous regime attacks.”

This latest sham by the Russians and Syrians is the typical maneuver. Cry foul, block an independent investigation and try to erase any evidence before claiming the attacks were staged.

To read the entire article from the Washington Examiner, click here:

Photo courtesy Wikipedia

Latest Airstrike Against Syria Appears to be the Israelis

The Syrians were evidently hit with another airstrike early Tuesday morning as Syrian state-run television was airing reports of an Israeli missile attack.

Syrian media and locals reported air strikes and Syrian air defense rockets being launched in response in the early hours of Tuesday morning. According to initial reports, the strikes may have targeted Al-Sayrat airbase and rural Homs, as well as areas around Damascus.

Days after US-led airstrikes hit Homs and Damascus on April 14, Syrian Twitter accounts blamed Israel for alleged strikes on Tuesday morning. The first reports emerged around 1:30am. Al Sura Media claimed fighter jets had targeted Syria’s T4 airbase, where Iranian troops are alleged to be present.
Syrian state television showed pictures of a missile that was shot in the air above the base.
State television did not mention three missiles that were fired at Dumair military airport, northeast of Damascus, that pro-Iranian Hezbollah’s media service reported were intercepted by Syrian air defenses.
Opposition sources say Dumair airport is a major air base used in a large-scale military campaign waged by the Syrian army with Russian firepower that regained eastern Ghouta, a rebel enclave on the outskirts of Damascus.
On Monday Hezbollah’s Deputy Secretary General Naim Qassem warned that Iran and Israel are nearing open war as tensions are very high in Syria.
Syria’s Sana Ajel news claimed anti-aircraft units responded to an attack in Shayrat airbase near Homs. That was the same airbase the US struck in 2017 in response to a chemical weapons attack at Khan Sheikhoun.
Reports of strikes at Shayrat airbase and areas south of Damascus were dismissed as rumors by some commentators online. Syria’s regime is gearing up for a battle with ISIS in Yarmouk in southern Damascus, and some said that the sounds of missiles might be related to that conflict.
However, Al-Mayadeen and other pro-regime channels showed video of a strange light, which they claimed was part of the airstrikes, hovering in the sky.

The Pentagon has declared there is “no US military activity near Homs at this time”.

It added: “We do not have additional details to provide.”

To read the entire article from the Jerusalem Post, click here:

Photo : Syrian television screen shot

While the Correct Thing To Do, What Did the Airstrikes Really Accomplish?

Opinion: After the Syrian regime used chemical weapons on its own people once again, the United States, France, and the UK conducted a joint air strike against three different targets in Syria — each of which was related to Syria’s chemical weapons program.

The three targets were destroyed, but were the Syrian chemical weapons research programs actually set back years? With the ability to deliver chemical weapons severely downgraded? No. And a bombing or missile campaign is quite unlikely to achieve that goal.

These are facts. Some of the tin-foil hat wearers out there are screaming that no proof exists that the Assad regime was responsible for this latest atrocity on his country. After the civil war began in Syria in 2011, Assad has regularly used chemical weapons on his own people. No proof?

Some Pentagon experts on WMD (weapons of mass destruction) have put the number of chemical attacks since 2012 conducted by the Assad regime around 200. After the nerve gas attack of last year, the U.S. unilaterally launched 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles at the base where the attacks came from. Did the U.S. punitive action have the desired effect?

The Syrian chemical weapons capability was put out of action for only about six-to-eight weeks. Since then, they’ve conducted 20 more chemical attacks. The strikes were far too limited in their scope to have any long, far-reaching effects on the use of these weapons nor on Assad himself.

People ask why? Why would they use these awful weapons against people? Because they are effective, they terrorize the civilian populace and Assad, as well as his cronies in Moscow and Tehran have a very high tolerance for atrocities against the civilian populace so long as the results meet with their aims.

After the Sarin gas attack of last year, the rebel forces in the area that was gassed soon surrendered. Mission accomplished for Assad. The Russians don’t care, they’re quite willing to use nerve agents in foreign countries to kill ex-spies against the Kremlin. See the two assassination attempts in the United Kingdom.

The Iranians? They control the Palestinians thru Hamas which isn’t a Palestinian organization but one in Tehran. Hezbollah, another Iranian proxy in Lebanon similarly takes its orders from Tehran. Which is why the Hamas/Hezbollah rocket launches at Israel always seem to be right between civilian apartment buildings. When the Israelis conduct counter-fire operations against the rocket launchers, there is a ready supply of civilian deaths that they use for their own purposes.

And after the limited strikes of a year ago, the coalition of the U.S., France and the U.K had to act. And again, opposition parties in the U.S. and the U.K are decrying the illegality of without going thru Congress/Parliament. It is a crock of bull. The same thing happened in reverse in 2013 when President Obama did much the same thing.

These opposition “leaders” scream about “no proof” and call for the United Nations to act but had the three countries stood idly by, as much of the world has since 2102, they’d be the first calling for action. The U.N. and the U.N Security Council is completely ineffective and powerless to stop anyone from doing anything. But we digress.

Why did the attacks do little other than to “put Assad on notice” that these chemical attacks won’t be tolerated? First, as we stated above, the targeting of chemical weapons launchers are very hard to eradicate strictly by a bombing campaign. The larger stockpiles can be, but in this case, how badly were the Syrian military units hit?

In truth? Not that bad at all. Secretary Mattis stated, as did General Dunford at the Pentagon, that the planners went to great lengths to limit civilian casualties. So any targets close to civilian areas were not targeted.

And with four days from when the story broke until the missile attacks began, gave the Syrians plenty of time to spread out their stockpiles. The Russians knew what was to come and sent their ships out to sea.

The Syrians moved their aircraft onto Russian bases because they knew the Coalition wouldn’t risk escalating the tensions with the Russians. And destroying any Russian aircraft and the killing of any of their troops would be too dangerous a proposition. Despite the threats the Russians have made about targeting any aircraft or launchers, they did nothing because, in truth, they’ve won.

Both President Trump, Prime Minister May and President Macron made it clear, that a regime change wasn’t the goal of the attack. Assad has stabilized his hold on the country. This attack was even smaller than most civilians in Damascus expected, so they poured into the streets and celebrated the aftermath like a great victory.

After President Trump tweeted to Russia to “Get ready” for the “missiles coming for Syria,” the Assad regime had four days to move any of their research materials or back them up on secure servers elsewhere. The buildings were certainly destroyed as we’ve seen. But the casualties were very low, probably because they had already emptied their buildings, regardless of the 4 a.m. hour.

So Assad’s regime lost a few buildings in the process but their actual chemical weapons capability hasn’t degraded much, if at all. And he knows, that he can and will get away with smaller attacks in the future, despite the proclamation by the United States U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley who said the U.S. was locked and loaded for another strike if Assad uses chemical weapons in the future.

Was the strike the right thing to do? Absolutely, the coalition even got the blessing of Turkish President Erdogan who has blasted the United States for nearly everything the past few years. “With the joint operation by US, UK and France … the Syrian regime received the message that its massacres wouldn’t be left unanswered,” Erdogan said.

“The innocent Syrian people should have been defended long ago. I am calling on the entire world here. Let’s discuss the future of all kinds of weapons of mass destruction, including chemical and conventional weapons in detail, he added.”

“Let’s use all resources for the sake of humanity instead of using them for nuclear and conventional armament projects.”

But will this change anything in Syria? Not much, if at all. The only options are to use the strikes again if need be and use political power to ostracize and sanction both politically and economically the regimes in Moscow and Tehran.

Will Assad use chemical weapons again? Without a doubt, then the U.S., France and the UK will have more decisions to make.

Photos: Wikipedia

Military Planning for Syria, Undone by the President’s Tweets?

The President once again was tweeting wildly after the chemical attack in Syria, and was hinting at a military strike operation being planned, and possibly spelled out a decision timetable while pointing out the weapons the U.S. may employ.

“Get ready Russia, because they will be coming, nice and new and ‘smart!’” he tweeted on Wednesday, referring to advanced weaponry at least 24 hours before any operation in Syria is likely to begin.
The U.S. military maintains strict discipline when it comes to discussing such operations in advance, taking the position that removing the element of surprise can render operations less effective and put troops in danger.
“The department does not comment on potential future military actions,” Pentagon spokesman Eric Pahon said Wednesday when asked about Mr. Trump’s tweet. “I refer you to the White House to characterize the president’s tweet.”
But the commander-in-chief’s statements have telegraphed U.S. military intentions, appearing at odds with Mr. Trump’s own criticisms of former President Barack Obama and catching the Pentagon off guard.
“The last thing in the world any military organization should be doing is telegraphing what you’re going to do,” said retired Army Gen. Ben Hodges. If the U.S. now opts not to conduct strikes in Syria, it would weaken Mr. Trump’s word the next time, he said. “I don’t like it.”
Gen. Hodges, now a senior consultant at the Washington, D.C.-based Center for European Policy Analysis, said he was “appalled” by Mr. Trump’s tweet early Wednesday, not only because it signaled a potential future military move, but because it could box the U.S. into a course of action.
By telling the world that the strike was imminent, the president could have put the USS Donald Cook, which is in the region’s waters and expected to be a part of any operation, in danger of harassment flights and maneuvers by Russian forces, one defense official said.
“It’s a consideration,” he said.

The issues brought forth are reasons for legitimate concern, the Syrian’s are already moving their aircraft to a Russian airbase since the thought is the U.S. will not attack and risk an escalation with the Russians. And while the Russians would know that the ship in the area would be used in any action, it makes no sense to put them in undue danger.

To read the entire article from the Wall Street Journal, click here:

Photo courtesy Wikipedia

Germany’s Merkel Bows Out of Military Intervention in Syria

Germany Chancellor Angela Merkel said Thursday that while she supports sending a message that the use of chemical weapons is unacceptable, Germany will not participate in any possible military action in Syria.

Merkel stressed the importance of a united position in response to an alleged attack in Douma that the West is blaming on Syrian President Bashar Assad’s forces.

“Germany will not take part in possible military action — I want to make clear again that there are no decisions — but we see, and support this, that everything is being done to send a signal that this use of chemical weapons is not acceptable,” Merkel told reporters in Berlin after meeting Denmark’s prime minister.
The German leader said she spoke Thursday with French President Emmanuel Macron, who has been talking regularly this week with U.S. President Donald Trump about the most effective response to the alleged chlorine gas attack.
Post-World War II Germany typically has been reluctant to engage in military action, and parliamentary approval is required for any military missions abroad. The country often has restricted itself to supporting roles, such as the participation of a German refueling plane and Jordan-based reconnaissance jets in the current international campaign against the Islamic State group.
“I think it is important to have a common line, without Germany participating militarily,” Merkel said. “If the permanent representatives in the (U.N.) Security Council were to initiate steps … going beyond the diplomatic dimension, then we will be supportive.”

When pressed by reporters, Merkel declined to answer how Germany will be supportive or if she is worried that this will escalate tensions between the United States and Russia. She did, however, say that the violations against the use of chemical weapons was a serious issue and that “the reactions will be appropriate.”

To read the entire article from the Washington Post, click here:

Photo courtesy Wikipedia

Russia Warns US Against Responding to Chemical Attack in Syria

The Russian envoy to the United Nations is urging the United States to avoid taking military action in response to the recent chemical attack in Syria.

“I would once again beseech you to refrain from the plans that you’re currently developing,” Moscow’s UN envoy Vasily Nebenzia said on Tuesday.
He warned Washington that it will “bear responsibility” for any “illegal military adventure” it carries out.
But Western leaders say they have agreed to work together to target those responsible for the attack in Douma.
French President Emmanuel Macron said any strikes would target Syrian government chemical facilities.
US President Donald Trump has promised a “forceful” response, and he and his Defence Secretary, James Mattis, have cancelled travel plans this week.
Syrian opposition activists, rescue workers and medics say dozens of people died in a suspected chemical attack on the rebel-held town of Douma, in the Eastern Ghouta region.
President Bashar al-Assad’s government – which receives military backing from Russia – denies being behind any chemical attack.
The warning from Moscow came during a divided meeting of the UN Security Council which failed to pass any measures to set up an inquiry into the alleged attack.
As permanent members of the council, Russia and the US both have the power to veto. They both blocked each other’s proposals to set up independent investigations.
The US-drafted resolution would have allowed investigators to apportion blame for the suspected attack, while Russia’s version would have left that to the Security Council.
A team from the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) is due to deploy to Syria “shortly” to determine whether banned weapons were used in Douma.
But the OPCW will not seek to establish who was responsible for the attack.
US envoy Nikki Haley responded by calling the vote a “travesty”.
“Russia has trashed the credibility of the council,” she said.
“Whenever we propose anything meaningful on Syria, Russia vetoes it.”

President Trump canceled a planned trip to Latin America, giving rise to speculation that he’s planning a response with both France and the UK. A joint operation between the three nations could signal a response much larger in scope than previously anticipated.

To read the entire article from BBC, click here:

Photo courtesy Wikipedia

Russians Jamming US GPS Signals for Drones in Syria

U.S. military surveillance drones operating in Syria are having their signals jammed by the Russian military, seriously affecting U.S. military operations, according to American officials.

The Russians began jamming some smaller U.S. drones several weeks ago, the officials said, after a series of suspected chemical weapons attacks on civilians in rebel-held eastern Ghouta. The Russian military was concerned the U.S. military would retaliate for the attacks and began jamming the GPS systems of drones operating in the area, the officials explained.
Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., reacted to the news of Russian scrambling Tuesday by saying “Russia wants to undermine our interests at every turn.”
“It is insane to think that Russia is anything but an adversary,” said Sasse.
Jamming, which means blocking or scrambling a drone’s reception of a signal from a GPS satellite, can be uncomplicated, according to Dr. Todd Humphreys, the director of the Radionavigation Laboratory at the University of Texas at Austin.
“GPS receivers in most drones can be fairly easily jammed,” he said.
Humphreys, an expert on the spoofing and jamming of GPS, warns this could have a significant impact on U.S. drones, causing them to malfunction or even crash. “At the very least it could cause some serious confusion” for the drone operator on the ground if the drone reports an incorrect position or is lost, he said.
U.S. analysts first caught the Russian military jamming drones in eastern Ukraine four years ago, after the invasion of Crimea, according to Humphreys. He said the jammers were initially detected as faint signals from space, bouncing off the earth’s surface. The jammers “had a pretty significant impact” on the United Nations surveillance drones that were attempting to monitor the area, grounding the fleet for days and halting intelligence gathering from the air.

The U.S. won’t comment as to if the jamming has caused any drones to crash. However, the jamming appears to affect only the smaller reconnaissance drones and not the larger, armed MQ-1B Predator or Reaper drones.

To read the entire article from NBC News, click here:

Photo courtesy Wikipedia

It is Time For Strong Action Against Assad, And It Isn’t Just a US Issue

Opinion: Once again the Syrian forces of the dictator Assad have shown the world their true colors. The chemical attack on the civilians of Douma on April 7 wasn’t the first time that Assad has used chemical weapons on his own people, nor the second.

The videos that have surfaced have clearly shown why the civilized world has banned them and made the use of a war crime. And that is exactly what Assad is, he is a war criminal and guilty of crimes against humanity. The Russians and President Putin are just as guilty as they’ve supported and enabled this murderous regime.

Condemnation from across the world was swift but with the usual trite, weak wording that is ignored by leaders such as Assad. They only understand force and that is exactly what they should get. And it shouldn’t be, which thankfully seems to be the case, of just the United States, stepping up to the plate.

President Trump, never one to miss an opportunity to take to social media, stated in his typical “understated” fashion but correctly so, that the attack was an atrocity. And he called out the Russians, Iranians and even he pal Putin for “backing Animal Assad.”

But the U.S. isn’t alone this time, the French have stepped up to the plate. French President Emmanuel Macron vowed to join the United States in coordinating “ a strong, joint response” to these chemical attacks. It was France a century ago that was the site for so many of the chemical attacks during the First World War. So they know better than anyone the

Macron said the U.S. and France will coordinate their efforts within the United Nations Security Council in the emergency meeting scheduled for tomorrow (Monday, April 9) that was called for by the United States, France, Britain, Sweden, Poland, the Netherlands, Kuwait, Peru, and Ivory Coast.

Trump promised Syria that there would be a big price to pay for yet another chemical attack on his own people. Late Sunday night, a Syrian airbase T-4 was hit with a missile attack. Syria immediately blamed the United States but the Pentagon issued a denial.

A spokesman released a message stating”at this time, the Department of Defense is not conducting airstrikes in Syria.”

“However, we continue to closely watch the situation and support the ongoing diplomatic efforts to hold those who use chemical weapons, in Syria and otherwise, accountable,” the message added.

Not much later, Syrians withdrew their accusation at the U.S. However, the Russians called out Israel for launching missiles at Syria from Lebanon airspace using F-15 fighters. Syria then claimed that its air defenses shot down eight of the missiles. The Israelis are under no illusion that if Assad and his Russian and especially his Iranian support are willing to abet his gassing of his own people, know that they’ll do the same to the Israeli population. They hit the airbase, which not coincidentally houses Iranian troops. Something the Israelis insist that they will not abide, having the Iranians establish bases so close to their border.

Last year around this time, the U.S. launched 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles at the Shayrat airfield after learning that Syrian government aircraft had departed from the airfield loaded with sarin gas for a chemical attack on the town of Khan Sheikhun. The Syrians and Russian denied that any chemical attack took place on Khan Sheikhun and that the U.S. fabricated it. This is despite the fact that the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) had come to the same conclusion, that Syria had carried out the attacks.

The Russians showed their hand in their duplicity by declaring since early March that the United States was going to try to frame Assad for an impending chemical attack. So they knew a month ago that chemical attacks were planned. But again, the town of Douma is besieged by Russian, Syrian and Iranian forces.

But thus far, the Russians won’t allow independent chemical investigators into the town of Douma to inspect the site of where a reported 100 civilians were killed in a chlorine gas attack. The only issue which could set a new precedent is that chlorine isn’t banned from the Chemical Weapons Convention that Syria signed.

While the European Union declared that an international response is called for against Russia and Syria for these chemical attacks, they’ve done nothing else…yet. But the French are stepping to the forefront. The latest attack is the “red line” that the Assad regime has crossed. France has threatened to carry out military strikes.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said that “the use of chemical weapons is a war crime,” and added that France will “do its duty” once the chemical attack on Douma is verified. So what does the rest of the European Union and other countries have to say about this? This shouldn’t be a unilateral U.S. response. Most of the rest of the countries of the west have gotten a free ride for the past 70 years while Uncle Sam played the bad cop every time a rogue nation steps out of line.

The time for action is now and the rest of the United Nations needs to be heard. Chemical weapons are forbidden now and haven’t been used in European battlefields since World War I. The U.S. classifies them as weapons of mass destruction.

This isn’t the first or even the second time the Assad regime has poison gassed the people of Syria. As much as President Trump can be over the top with his social media proclamations, he’s right about this. Anyone who will poison gas their own people is nothing more than an animal.

So what will the U.N. do? Will they finally step up to the plate and do something worthy of its own name? Or will it revert to what it’s done for the last 70 years or so? And word some milquetoast proclamation that says little and does even less? I am not so sure but I’m guessing on the latter rather than the former.

Photo: Wikipedia

Trump: No Options Off the Table in Response to Syria Gas Attack

President Trump, minced no words on Monday as he said, the United States is pondering its options for a military strike against the rogue regime of President Assad in Syria. After Syrian forces gassed their own civilians in the city of Douma, Trump vowed that any country involved in the attack will “pay a price.”

As he began a Monday evening meeting with military leaders at the White House, Trump promised to “make a decision tonight or very shortly thereafter.” He said: “We have a lot of options militarily, and we’ll be letting you know pretty soon. Probably after the fact.”

The White House sharply rejected any suggestion that Trump’s own words about pulling U.S. troops out of Syria had opened the door for the attack, which killed more than 40 people, including children.
Trump, asked at midday whether Russian President Vladimir Putin bore any responsibility for the weekend attack, responded: “He may, yeah, he may. And if he does it’s going to be very tough, very tough.” He added: “Everybody’s gonna pay a price. He will. Everybody will.”
Then, during the meeting with top military leaders, he said the weekend assault “will be met and it will be met forcefully.” Those at the meeting included Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Joseph Dunford.
Amid the tough talk at the White House, the U.S. military appeared to be in position to carry out any attack order. A Navy destroyer, the USS Donald Cook, was underway in the eastern Mediterranean after completing a port call in Cyprus. The guided missile destroyer is armed with Tomahawk cruise missiles, the weapon of choice in a U.S. attack one year ago on an airfield in Syria following an alleged sarin gas attack on civilians.

As the U.S. ponders its next move, tensions are getting higher between the U.S. and Russia, the highest since the days of the Cold War. President Trump reiterated that no stone will remain unturned. “If it’s Russia, if it’s Syria, if it’s Iran, if it’s all of them together, we’ll figure it out.”

To read the entire article from Chicago Examiner, click here:

Photo courtesy Wikipedia

US Claims That It was Not Behind Missile Attack in Syria

Syrian state-run media has announced a missile attack early Monday morning on an airbase in Homs province. The Syrians pointed the finger at the U.S. for the attack on the T4 airbase where 14 people including Iranians were killed.

Russian officials claimed that the planes attacking the base were Israeli F-15s and that they shot down all of the missiles.

U.S. officials said the United States was not responsible for the strikes in Syria. The French news agency reports that France’s military has also denied responsibility for the strikes.
“However, we continue to closely watch the situation and support the ongoing diplomatic efforts to hold those who use chemical weapons, in Syria and otherwise, accountable,” Pentagon spokesman Christopher Sherwood said in a statement.
Syria has repeatedly denied using chemical weapons throughout the conflict that began in 2011, including the most recent suspected chemical attack Saturday in a rebel-held suburb of Damascus that killed at least 40 people.
Late Sunday, the White House said President Donald Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron strongly condemned chemical attacks in Syria and agreed Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s government “must be held accountable for its continued human rights abuses.”
“They agreed to exchange information on the nature of the attacks and coordinate a strong, joint response,” the White House said about a phone call between the two leaders.
Macron’s office added that the two sides “exchanged information and analysis confirming the use of chemical weapons.”
Trump further called for Syria to open the area of the alleged chemical attack to allow in verification and medical teams.
The Russian foreign ministry rejected claims of a chemical attack, saying, “The spread of bogus stories about the use of chlorine and other poisonous substances by (Syrian) government forces continues.
“We have warned several times recently against such dangerous provocations,” the Moscow statement said. “The aim of such deceitful speculation, lacking any kind of grounding, is to shield terrorists and to attempt to justify possible external uses of force.”

The attack in Ghouta where hundreds of families were gassed in their basements came hours after the Syrian government supposedly reached an agreement with the rebel forces there to exchange prisoners and leave the city.

Trump in a rare rebuke of Putin lashed out at him and Russia for the support of “the animal Assad” and vowed that there would be “a big price to pay” for the attack.

To read the entire article from Voice of America, click here:

Photo courtesy AP