An Air force service member has actually been detained by military authorities for an alleged insider attack at a United States base in Syria, a bombing in April that left four US service members hurt, authorities stated.
The unidentified airman was arrested in the United States on June 16 after supposedly triggering explosives throughout the attack in Green Village Syria, Air Force representative Ann Stefanek informed CNN.
“As part of an ongoing investigation, on June 16, an airman was taken into custody stateside in conjunction with the attack in Green Village, Syria,” Stefanek told CNN.
“After reviewing the information in the investigation, the Airman’s commander made the decision to place him in pretrial confinement,” Stefanek said.
No other details about the person have been released.
“We won’t release the individual’s name unless charges are preferred,” Stefanek said. “It is too early in the process for a charge sheet. It will be available if charges are preferred.”
Charges are anticipated to be filed within the next few weeks.
The examination into the alleged attack is being performed by the Army’s Criminal Investigation Division and the Air Force Office of Special Investigations.
The explosives detonated at the little Northern Syria base in the middle of the night on April 7.
Military authorities at first believed that the attack was triggered by indirect fire on the base. Nevertheless, one week later they concluded that the blast was triggered by a “deliberate placement of explosive charges by an unidentified individual(s) at an ammunition holding area and shower facility.”
Officials explain the explosives to CNN as “not insignificant,” and more powerful than a hand grenade.
The attack was caught on monitoring video camera video footage in which a figure is seen moving quickly in 2 instances. It’s not clear if it’s the very same person in both clips.
It’s unclear whether the wrongdoer was trying to cause mass casualties or not.
Officials are likewise examining whether sentries were posted at the time of the attack.
The four injured soldiers suffered traumatic brain injuries but were back in service within the month.
According to Task And Purpose, “Should the airman be charged and convicted of having carried out the attack, it would be a major break from previous insider attacks, which often involved foreign partner forces firing on American military members or other friendly forces. There was a steep increase in insider attacks, referred to as “green-on-blue” attacks, around 2011 in Afghanistan, as Task & Purpose previously reported.” This would instead be a much rarer ‘blue-on-blue’ or “Intentional friendly fire” incident.
