Reports from Syria indicate as many as 300 “contractors” fighting for Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad’s forces were killed as they attacked US and US-led soldiers on February 7. While, as the Reuters new agency reports, it is well-known that Moscow employs the contractors in order to avoid casualties among the troops that it admits to having in Syria, the Kremlin nevertheless denies that it does. But specifically regarding the February 7 attack, the Russians deny any involvement. If they are to be believed, the source ordering the contractors and directing their actions is a major mystery. So much so, that Reuters reports when reporters traveling on his plane asked Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis who the contractors work for, his response was a curt, “Don’t ask me; I don’t know.” Although it seems the Kremlin would be the return address on their paychecks, the contractors’ bosses continue to deny responsibility for this particular mission. According to Mattis, “I doubt that 257 people all just decided on their individual own selves to suddenly cross the river into enemy territory and start shelling a location and maneuvering tanks against it.”
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