Unlike Assad and Russian claims that target was opposition arsenal, evidence shows that it was actually grain silos
An aerial view of the Syrian town targeted by Tuesday’s deadly attack shows that the Syrian regime's chemical strike targeted grain silos, contrary to regime claims that it hit an opposition arsenal.
Last Tuesday, the Assad regime's chemical attack in Khan Shaykhun, Idlib left some 100 men, women, and children dead and more than 500 injured, sparking international outrage.
According to exclusive aerial views shot by Anadolu Agency, the storage silos, which are partially destroyed, lie only 50 meters (164 feet) from a crowded residential area.
Shortly after the attack, Russia and the Assad regime claimed that rather than a chemical weapons attack, the Assad forces had hit opposition munitions warehouses which contained chemical weapons.
According to Anadolu Agency images, the storage silos are not encircled by high walls but are instead are in the open and appear to have been damaged several times.
But no military vehicles, checkpoints or anything related to the opposition can be seen at the scene, according to the agency.
One day after the attack, the residents of Khan Shaykhun, which now looks like a ghost town, told Anadolu Agency that the targeted area was used for grain storage. They also said that they never had seen any opposition members in the area.
Some other former residents of the town who fled to refugee camps along the Turkish border told Anadolu Agency that the storage silos had also been hit in the past and put out of commission. They said that in the past there was even an adjacent bakery.
In response to Tuesday's attack, the U.S. fired 59 Tomahawk missiles at a Syrian air base American officials think the attack came from.
