An AC-130H/U Gunship aircraft from the 4th Special Operations Squadron jettisons flares over an area near Hurlburt Field, Fla., in 2008. Their safe passage was “irrefutable evidence” the United States allows the Islamic State to wreak havoc to meet their interests in the region, the ministry said on Facebook and Twitter. How the image ended up in the mix of infrared images posted by the Russian defense ministry is unclear. The Conflict Intelligence Team, a group of amateur digital sleuths that tracks Russian operations in Syria, concluded other photos in the post were from a June 2016 video of Iraqi airstrikes on Islamic State positions in Fallujah. Monitoring groups have accused the United States for increasing civilian deaths in Raqqa in the operation to rid Islamic State militants from their de facto capital.

Source: Washington Post November 15, 2017 00:18 UTC