US airman arrested over insider bombing attack that hurt 4 US troops

A U.S. Airman has been arrested in connection with a suspected insider attack at a U.S. base in Syria in April, during which someone planted a bomb that injured four fellow service members when it exploded.

In a statement first provided to CNN, U.S. Air Force spokeswomen Ann Stefanek said “As part of an ongoing investigation, on June 16, an Airman was taken into custody stateside in conjunction with the attack in Green Village, Syria.”

Combined Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve (OIR), the name for the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq and Syria initially attributed an explosion at the Green Village base in eastern Syria to outside indirect fire weapons, but later determined the evidence showed a “deliberate placement of explosive charges by an unidentified individual(s)” indicating someone had brought the explosives onto the base to carry out the attack.

The April explosion damaged an ammunition holding area and shower facility on the base. OIR officials initially reported two U.S. service members were wounded, but later said two more U.S. service members were also wounded. All four U.S. service members were eventually diagnosed and treated for traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) but have been able to return to duty.

Earlier this month, the Army Criminal Investigation Division (CID) announced it had identified a U.S. service member as a possible suspect in the April insider bombing attack. CID spokesman Patrick Barnes said the suspected service member had been brought back stateside while investigators continued to study the incident.

“After reviewing the information in the investigation, the Airman’s commander made the decision to place him in pretrial confinement,” Stefanek added in her statement to CNN on Tuesday.

Stefanek did not identify the Airman that had been arrested and no charges have been announced.

https://americanmilitarynews.com/2022/06/us-airman-arrested-over-insider-bombing-attack-that-hurt-4-us-troops/