By Kasim Ileri
WASHINGTON (AA) – U.S. State Department on Monday contradicted Russia’s claim that a halt in U.S.-led coalition’s strikes on Daesh in Syrian city of Raqqah led to the fall of historical city of Palmyra.
Russian Ministry of Defense Igor Konashenkov, said earlier in the day that the reason for Daesh’s recapture of the antique city was due to the anti-Daesh coalition ceasing its bombardment of Raqqah, which resulted in thousands of fighters making their way to Palmyra.
“Nobody has lost focus on continuing to pursue this goal of liberating Raqqah,” State Department spokesman John Kirby said during a press briefing. “So, claims that we somehow stopped supporting SDF forces in terms of trying to further isolate Raqqah are just not true.”
Daesh decimated Palmyra before losing it to the regime forces in March this year.
Kirby acknowledged that as the terror group is pressed, it tends to move fighters to another place but he noted that in such cases militants are more vulnerable to the coalition airstrike.
“When they do,” Kirby said, “we try to take as much advantage of that as possible.”
Pentagon too put the onus on Russia and the Syrian regime.
A Pentagon official speaking to Anadolu Agency on the condition of anonymity said the historical city had been under regime control and protected by Russian airpower.
“It is not an area where we operate,” the official said. “These are really bad guys, but their recapture of Palmyra shows that ISIS threat is a serious one.”
