The Russian Defense Ministry has urged a comment from the Pentagon after photos of a purported US missile fragment found in the rubble of a bombed Syrian mosque emerged online.
Russia is expecting the Pentagon to comment on the deadly airstrike on a mosque in Syria’s Aleppo province, where at least 40 civilians were feared killed overnight into Friday, March 17.
“I think we should expect comments from the US partners anytime soon,” Konashenkov noted.
The news of the strike was broken by the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and the White Helmets activists who shared the first pictures from the scene. Some news outlets were quick to lay the blame for the attack on Moscow or Damascus.
Tragic mistakes that claim lives of civilians do happen at war, the Russian spokesman said, however adding that “before releasing anti-Russian false stories, they [media sources] should do their job as professionals by thoroughly studying the facts and getting to the bottom of things.”
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There is no doubt the US missiles were intended for terrorists, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Friday.
“We have no doubt that the US forces were aiming at terrorists,” Zakharova said.
“Unlike some of our opponents, we are not going to blame them for ‘intentional’ killing of civilians and destruction of infrastructure,” she noted, adding that there is still a need to understand what really happened in Al-Jinah.
READ MORE: US-led coalition ‘acts secretively in Syria,’ Americans often absent from hotline – Russian military
The authenticity of the photo supposedly showing a metal piece of a missile with a serial number inscription is yet to be confirmed.
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