US says intelligence behind Israeli strike on Syria air base was wrong

Islamabad US Ambassador to Turkiye Tom Barrack said on Saturday that intelligence behind an Israeli attack on a military airbase in northern Syria earlier this week was wrong. Barrack, who also serves as special envoy for Syria and Iraq, commented on Israel's airstrike on the abandoned Abu al-Duhur Military Airbase in eastern Idlib province. He said on social media that he did not know why the attack was carried out, but could share the answers given to him. The ambassador said Israel had received intelligence that Turkiye might be moving military assets to the airbase in Syria and shared the information with Washington, where the intelligence was analysed. 'We consulted our intelligence agencies, and the answer we received was that this claim was not true,' he said. Barrack added there may have been 'a miscommunication' among the Israeli army, Mossad and prime minister's office, and stressed that neither the US nor Turkiye were informed of the attack in advance. Barrack described the Turkish army as 'strong and brave', saying it is 'very well-equipped and knows its job well'. Later, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz condemned Barrack's remarks, writing on X that Israel had passed on 'intelligence information to the authorised parties in the United States' before the strike, and that Barrack's comment was 'full of inaccuracies and positions that contradict the stance of US President [Donald] Trump himself regarding the Golan Heights'. In his statement, Katz also pushed back against domestic criticism of the bombing in Syria, particularly from some leaders of the opposition. 'The attempt by elements in the opposition and parts of the media to paint the operation in Syria in political colours stems from a combination of ignorance, a lack of understanding of Israel's security interests, and a constant desire to bash the government-and it deserves every condemnation,' he wrote. The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed that 'Turkish soldiers were trying to settle at the base and were deploying military installations moving southward.' Israeli army warplanes had attacked the abandoned Abu al-Duhur Military Airbase in eastern Idlib province in northern Syria. No information was shared on whether there were casualties or injuries in the attack. A Syrian official said Israeli warplanes carried out eight attacks on the airbase, targeting the runway and an inactive structure in a hangar.