On August 31, the United States Central Command (USCENTCOM) that it had on what the intelligence suggested was in Syria’s besieged Idlib region. The camp allegedly has been used mainly by Hurras al-Deen, a group affiliated with the global jihadist network Al-Qaeda. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights as a training facility used by the group.
Russia’s Defense Ministry , claiming that it was indiscriminate, conducted without warning and would endanger the ceasefire agreement brokered between Russia, Turkey and the Syrian opposition in Idlib.
The ministry’s claim was misleading on several counts. Russia announced a on August 30, but Syrian regime forces reportedly carried out artillery and rocket attacks in Idlib on August 31, the day of the U.S. strike. Citing local media reports, the monitoring site several strikes by Russian or regime forces that resulted in civilian casualties in the Idlib area that day. If a ceasefire was truly in effect there, it was short-lived. Previous were routinely violated.
Russian allegations that the U.S. attack was indiscriminate do not hold up. First, photos of the targeted site strongly suggest it was located outside of populated urban areas. Second, put the death toll at around 40 militants, with no mention of civilian casualties. That, however, does not mean there were no civilian casualties. One video of the aftermath of the strike, for example, . Also, while the strike was aimed at Al-Qaeda-affiliated leaders, several groups were using the targeted facility as an operations room, meaning some non-AQ fighters may have been killed or injured in the strike.
On September 4, U.N. Human Rights Chief Michelle Bachelet in northern Syria in the past four months, mostly in the opposition enclaves of Idlib and Hama. She said nearly all of those deaths were caused either by the Assad regime or by its allies, including Russia.