Pentagon: Chemical Weapons Activity Detected in Shayrat Air Base

The U.S. has seen chemical weapons activity at a Syrian air base allegedly used to launch chemical attacks in the past, the Pentagon said Tuesday, according to the Associated Press.

Pentagon spokesman Navy Capt. Jeff Davis reported that the U.S. had observed “activity” at Shayrat airfield which “indicated active preparations for chemical weapons use.”

Davis was quoted by Reuters as saying, “This involved specific aircraft in a specific hangar, both of which we know to be associated with chemical weapons use.”

He added that the activity occurred during “the past day or two.”

The Pentagon statement did not say how the U.S. had gathered its intelligence.

The Shayrat air base was allegedly used by the Syrian air force in April to launch a chemical weapons attack on the town of Khan Sheikhoun.

Tuesday’s statement comes one day after the White House accused the Syrian government of preparing for another chemical weapons attack and warned that it would “pay a heavy price” if such an attack took place.

President Bashar al-Assad’s government and Russia dismissed the White House allegation that Damascus was preparing a new chemical weapons attack.

Meanwhile, French president Emmanuel Macron told President Donald Trump in a phone call Tuesday that he would work with the U.S. to find a common response in case of a new attack in Syria, Reuters reported.

U.S. Coalition Strikes ISIS-run Prison in al-Mayadeen

An airstrike believed to have been carried out by the U.S.-led coalition targeted an ISIS prison in the eastern Syrian town of al-Mayadeen on Monday, killing at least 57 people, Reuters reported, citing a war monitor.

The U.K.-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Tuesday that an airstrike took place on Monday at dawn, hitting a building in the town of al-Mayadeen that was being used by the so-called Islamic State as a prison.

“The Coalition conducted strikes on known ISIS command and control facilities and other ISIS infrastructure in (Mayadeen), Syria, June 25 and 26,” Colonel Joe Scrocca, coalition director of public affairs, confirmed in an email to Reuters.

“The removal of these facilities disrupts ISIS’s ability to facilitate and provoke terrorist attacks against the coalition, our partner forces and in our homelands. This mission was meticulously planned and executed to reduce the risk of collateral damage and potential harm to non-combatants.”

ISIS is believed to have moved most of its leadership to al-Mayadeen in Syria’s Euphrates Valley, southeast of the group’s besieged capital Raqqa, according to U.S. intelligence officials.

Turkey Retaliates Against YPG in Syria

Turkish forces carried out an artillery attack against Kurdish positions in Syria late Tuesday after YPG fighters targeted Ankara-backed forces near the northern town of Azaz, Reuters reported.

YPG machine-gun fire on Tuesday evening targeted Turkey-backed Free Syrian Army elements in the Maranaz area south of the town of Azaz in northern Syria, prompting Turkish retaliation.

“Fire support vehicles in the region were used to retaliate in kind against the harassing fire and the identified targets were destroyed/neutralized,” the Turkish military said in a statement carried by Reuters.

Only hours before the attack, U.S. defense secretary Jim Mattis said that it was possible for the U.S. to supply the Kurdish YPG militia in Syria with weapons and equipment even after Raqqa is captured from the so-called Islamic State, Reuters reported.

Turkey sees the YPG as an extension of the outlawed Kurdish PKK, which has been waging an insurgency in the country’s southeast since the mid-1980s.

Recommended Reads:

• Business Insider: Why the White House Scrambled to Put Out a New Warning About Chemical Weapons in Syria
• The Atlantic: Can Americans Believe the President About Syrian Chemical Weapons?
• Time: Trump’s Chemical Weapons Warning Raises the Stakes for War in Syria
• ABC News: Military Options the U.S. Could Use Against Syria if There’s Another Chemical Attack
• CBS: Fight Against ISIS in Syria Leaves Behind Deadly Path of Destruction