US security officials told CNN that the Syrian regime had transferred most of its fighters to another base to protect them from possible US attacks. The aircraft were transferred to an airbase at Basel Al-Assad airport in Latakia shortly after the US attack using 59 Tomahawk missiles two weeks ago on the Sharat air base. During that attack, 24 Syrian planes were destroyed in response to the chemical massacre Assad wrought on his own people.
An American security source said that it appears that the planes transferred were most of the operationally capable planes of the Syrian air force if not all of them. The planes were transferred to the Khemimim air base, one of Russia’s two main air bases in Syria.
The United States did not rule further attacks if Assad chose to use chemical weapons again. However, according to the Syrian regime, the United States will not rush to attack in close proximity to the Russian forces and their air defense systems.
Before Trump’s attack, the US forewarned the Kremlin to prevent Russian casualties, and US security officials estimated that the same attack had led to a 20 percent reduction in the number of operational military aircraft in the Syrian air force. So Assad’s priority is to save the remainder from destruction
The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) confirmed this Monday that the gas used in the attack in Idlib which killed 90 people including many children, was Sarin gas or a similar toxin.
Meanwhile, a senior IDF officer estimated that Assad had 1-3 tons of chemicals weapons left in his arsenal. “Assad’s use of gas stemmed from his distress after no one wanted to maneuver in the field 9to fight) against ISIS and the other rebels. Such a maneuver is very costly in terms of losses, dead and wounded” he said.