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US Missile Remains Reportedly Recovered from Site of Aleppo Mosque Bombing
March 16, 2017

By Christiaan Triebert


Updates:
  • The geolocation has been confirmed to a site southwest of Al-Jīnah, based on video footage of the aftermath and satellite imagery.
What happened?
In the evening of March 16, 2017, reports came in that a mosque in a Syrian village in the western part of the Aleppo governorate was targeted by an airstrike, killing over 50 attendees of the evening prayer. Most posts on social media blamed either the Russian or the Syrian Air Force for the attack. Some reports, however, accused the United States (US) and the Coalition (CJTF-OIR) it leads, or said that the planes could not be identified. In this investigation, Bellingcat aims to see what we can establish using open source information.

The lowest casualty estimates are by the Syrian Network for Human Rights (29) and the Syrian Civil Defence (35; better known as the White Helmets). Other sources have claimed much higher casualty figures.

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Where did it happen?
Based on the textual information available, the location of the airstrike is said to be at a mosque in or around Al-Jīnah, an opposition-held village located in the western part of the Aleppo governorate. Some reports call the mosque the ‘Umar ibn Al-Khaṭṭāb mosque.

There are three mosques detectable on satellite imagery in Al-Jīnah itself, however, local activists told Bellingcat that the targeted mosque was relatively newly built just southwest of the village: 36.107721, 36.787080 (Wikimapia). According to reports, the evening prayer was mainly attended by civilian but used for religious teaching.

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Based on a video uploaded to YouTube showing the aftermath, it is possible to confirm that the two locations match.

Geolocation of mosque bombed by the US is CONFIRMED: southeast of Al-Jīnah, w-Aleppo, #Syria. https://t.co/BLjjLH93or pic.twitter.com/j0gKDk7Kzf

— Christiaan Triebert (@trbrtc) March 17, 2017

When did it happen?
The alleged airstrike took place on March 16, 2017. In several videos of the event, people are saying that the airstrikes took place during the Isha prayer, meaning that the specific time of the airstrike must have been somewhere between 19:00 and 19:30 local time.

Who is responsible?
Both the Russian Air Force as well as the United States(-led Coalition) have been accused of targeting the mosque in Al-Jīnah.

However, a photo showing an alleged weapon remnant found in the rubble of the mosque may reveal more about the perpetrator of the attack.

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The photo was published on Twitter by Sakir Khader, a Dutch journalist, who said he received the photo from local activists on the ground. No results show up in a reverse image search, suggesting the photo has not been indexed by Google and may thus be authentic. The location and authenticity of the photo could not be independently referenced, and we are currently awaiting more photos and videos from the targeted site.

A text in Latin is visible on the alleged weapon remnant: “WT: 52.0 kg”. ‘WT’ is an abbreviation for ‘weight’, possibly referring to the weight of the missile.

Interestingly, the specific font and abbreviation are used on US missiles, as can be seen in hundreds of reference pictures of AGM-114 Hellfire air-to-surface missiles, as shown below. This fact, combined with the striking similarity of rivets, paint, et cetera, strongly suggests the photographed object is a remnant of a US AGM-variant.

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Perhaps even more noteworthy is that the exact same label on a weapon remnant was found at the site of an alleged drone strike on a high value target (HVT) in Syria’s Idlib province in October 2016. At the day that those photos were published by pro-opposition Step News Agency, the US admitted targeting a target with a drone.

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If the photo of Mr. Khader thus indeed was taken at the mosque site, it is highly likely that the US is the perpetrator of this attack. It is, however, also worth mentioning that the damage shown in the October 16, 2016, footage of Idlib is considerably smaller than the March 16, 2017, strike, as was noted by Twitter-uster @sasmojo.

Why did it happen?
On social media, many were fast to see that the mosque was attended by “young men of fighting age”, and that rebel fighters were attending the evening prayer. None of this can be confirmed.

However, it is possible that the US was aiming to kill one or more high value targets (HVTs) of the various groups in Syria that are designated as a terrorist organisation by the US. It is important to note that the US airstrikes targeting HTS, Jabhat Fateh al-Sham (formerly known as Jabhat al-Nusra) have been separate from US-led CJTF-OIR.

CENTCOM did confirm they conducted airstrikes in the Idlib province, as they told Samuel Oakford, an American journalist. Al-Jīnah is 5 kilometres from the governorate border with Idlib.

NEW: CENTCOM says the US conducted a strike in Idlib during the past 6 hours. It is looking into Aleppo mosque strike, which is near border.

— Samuel Oakford (@samueloakford) March 16, 2017

Bellingcat will contact the US Central Command to comment on the above information, and this article will be updated accordingly.
Obama kept the drones on a tight leash and received nothing but backstabbing from foreign leaders. People will remember those days since the shackles have been taken off military forces now.
 
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Obama kept the drones on a tight leash and received nothing but backstabbing from foreign leaders. People will remember those days since the shackles have been taken off military forces now.
Obama the founder of ISIS was the same sh!t as trump, U.S.A wouldn't hesitate, if it's military could do anything.
 
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Obama kept the drones on a tight leash and received nothing but backstabbing from foreign leaders. People will remember those days since the shackles have been taken off military forces now.


What are you talking about? Hundreds if not thousands have died from US airstrikes in Iraq, Libya, Afghanistan, Yemen and Syria under Odumba. You have a short memory about the hospital attack in Afghanistan it seems.

The media in the US and Europe is 95% liberal and most people lean liberal. Obama was worshiped like a god and got away with everything from supporting foreign coups to unlawfully targeting journalists, to running the country into more debt then all previous presidents combined but the media and liberals ignored it and gave him a free pass.

Trump goes to dinner with his family and he gets attacked by the liberal media for not "informing them", Trump reduces debt and he gets attacked by the liberal media again. Trump turns down his presidential salary and he gets attacked, Trump has been found to have zero connections to the Russia government and he still gets accused of being a Russian agent. Trump was occused of not paying taxes for 18 years, turns out he payed 38 million in a single year at a 25% tax rate which is higher then Obama which payed 19% and Bernie which payed just 13.5%.
 
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http://www.businessinsider.com/the-battle-of-raqqa-with-isis-will-drag-on-with-high-costs-2017-3
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The largest force is the Syrian Arab Army to the west and northwest, with about 70,000 troops. The Syrian Democratic Forces to the northeast is estimated at 55,000–80,000 soldiers, though they are constrained by Turkish ambitions.

Russia has deployed an additional 10,000–15,000 troops. Turkey commands an estimated 8,000 troops that include the FSA. The US has about 1,400 special operators in the battlespace to act in an advisory and assistance capacity.

Though actual numbers for ISIS are unknown, we estimate that 10,000–15,000 IS fighters are in Raqqa. Though ISIS troop numbers are lower, its entrenched position in the city’s center and fighting experience give it an advantage over any force that will mount an attack.

Regardless of relative troop size, defenses, and civilian population—as we’ve discussed before—the cost of clearing ISIS from its core turf will be very high for whichever force attacks the city.
 
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can any one tell me...what business Americans have in Syria...I mean what are they doing in syria....who invited them ...
 
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The US-led coalition conducted 22 strikes against Daesh (outlawed in Russia) in Syria and Iraq on Monday, including 19 near Raqqa that destroyed multiple vehicle borne improvised explosive device (VBIED) assets, Operation Inherent Resolve said in a press release.
WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — The Raqqa strikes also engaged eight Daesh tactical units and destroyed two supply routes.

Near Ar Raqqah, 19 strikes engaged eight ISIS [Daesh] tactical units; destroyed four petroleum oil lubricant equipment pieces, three barges, three fighting positions, three ISIS headquarters, two VBIED facilities, two VBIEDs, a VBIED factory, a tunnel, a vehicle, a weapons storage facility, and a command and control node; and damaged two supply routes." the release stated on Tuesday.

Three additional strikes near Abu Kamal destroyed three well heads and a pump jack.

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A representative of the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), an alliance largely made up Kurdish and Arab militias, has confirmed that the Pentagon is planning to deploy an additional 1,000 US ground troops to Syria to assist the SDF in the upcoming operation aimed at liberating Raqqa, the de facto capital of Daesh's caliphate.

"Every two days the US deploys a large amount of weapons, primarily heavy armaments, to the region. They have sent tanks, armored vehicles, missiles, sniper rifles, mortar launchers and other types of weaponry," the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told Sputnik Turkey. "In addition, the United States has told us that a decision was made to send an additional 1,000 US troops to take part in the Raqqa operation."


US troops are reported to have set up bases in northern Syria, including the cities of Kobani, Rimelan, al-Hasakah, al-Hawl, Tel Abyad, Shaddadi and Manbij. More than 1,000 US troops are said to be present in the region, with the majority located to the south of Manbij and Kobani.
 
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Putin's terrorists drop incendiary cluster bombs on Ariha in retaliation for rebel Hama offensive (rbk-500 zab-2.5sm):

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