This post is also available in: العربية
The Lebanese press of Al-Modon published a report today stating the main reason behind the targeting of the positions of the Assad forces on September 18 in Deir Ezzor province by the Coalition. According to the report, the air strikes were based on the coordinates which were passed on to the Coalition by some Assad defectors who were familiar with the targeted military positions
Military sources in the city of Deir Ezzor confirmed to Al-Modon that there were sophisticated weaponry, arm depots and chemical weaponry located in multiple positions on Thurdah Mountain before the Coalition pulverized three of them. Some Assad defectors indicated to the press that Thurdah Mountain has always been a strategic storage of sophisticated and chemical weaponry, mainly chlorine gas, for the Assad-regime even before the start of the Syrian Revolution. It is a very fortified Assad position, which explains why the FSA could not control it before.
Some sources indicated that Daesh was on the verge to capture and relocate the weaponry to southern Syria in order to carry out attacks against the minorities in the region which would justify the targeting of the Sunni majority areas in the country. Therefore, the Coalition intervened quickly to prevent the organization from seizing the sophisticated chemical weaponry stored on in the arms depots on the mountain
The sources confirmed that the Coalition co-operated with some of their agents within the ranks of the Assad forces, including officers. The organization rushed to announce the capturing of the area of Thurdah Mountain which Russia used as a proof for accusing the Coalition of supporting Daesh against the Assad forces. The Assad forces recaptured the mountain without publishing any pictures or videos of the targeted area.
Noteworthy, the Coalition airstrikes on the position of the Assad forces and loyalists caused at least sixty causalities in their ranks, as well as seven Russian Special Forces, as stated by the Russian Defense Ministry.