Cairo - Egypt Today
The Pentagon has voiced concerns to Turkey after the NATO ally's state news agency disclosed the locations of 10 US military posts in northern Syria, Sputnik News Agency reported Wednesday.
According to the media, two air bases in the area of Rmeilan of the province of Hasakah have been operating since October 2015. In March 2016, a helicopter base was opened in the Harab Isk village near the city of Kobani, which also serves as a staging post on one of the routes for delivering military aid to the Syrian Kurds.
A Turkish news agency noted that the locations of the US forces are often designated as "closed zones" and are classified. Troops help airstrikes and shelling, train local forces and conduct operational planning. Some units also participate in active combat operations.
The bases are equipped with highly maneuverable artillery batteries, rocket launchers, mobile reconnaissance equipment and armored cars, Strykers in particular.
The release of sensitive military information by Turkish media could potentially disrupt US-led operations against Daesh, Defense Department spokesman Eric Pahon said.
"The release of sensitive military information exposes Coalition forces to unnecessary risk and has the potential to disrupt ongoing operations to defeat Daesh," Pahon said.
"For operational security reasons, we do not disclose the locations of Coalition forces operating in Syria to defeat ISIS," Pahon said referring to Daesh.
"While we cannot independently verify the sources that contributed to this story, we would be very concerned if officials from a NATO ally would purposefully endanger our forces by releasing sensitive information. We have conveyed these concerns to the Government of Turkey."
Source: Mena