Following an attack at a small U.S. base in eastern Syria in April, an American airman has been arrested.
The base, “Green Village,” sustained rocket fire that injured four service members, NBC News reported.
The military originally reported two indirect-fire rounds hitting the site.
The four service members were treated for minor wounds and possible traumatic brain injuries.
At the time, the military suspected that Iran or Iranian-backed militia groups were responsible for the attack.
But once an investigation of the incident began, officials found that the attack was not the result of just indirect fire that may have come from militia groups, as they had originally assumed. It was deliberate.
“Upon further investigation, OIR officials assess the explosions in Green Village were not the result of indirect fire but rather the deliberate placement of explosive charges by an unidentified individual(s) at an ammunition holding area and shower facility,” U.S. Central Command reported.
Now, an airman has been taken into custody in relation to the attack.
However, the Air Force will not release the airman’s name yet.
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“It is too early in the process for a charge sheet. It will be available if charges are preferred,” an official said, ABC News reported.
But the airman will be put into pretrial confinement.
“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,” Ann Stefanek, a spokeswoman for the Air Force, said in a statement to NBC News.
“After reviewing the information in the investigation, the Airman’s Commander made the decision to place him in pretrial confinement,” the statement continued.
The arrest of an airman does not come as a complete surprise since the Army indicated that it was looking into a service member as a possible suspect.
At this point however, the Army Criminal Investigation (CID) and the Air Force Office of Special Investigation (OSI) are still investigating the incident.
An Army CID official previously emphasized that “at this point, these are just allegations” and that any suspects are presumed innocent.
“The investigation is ongoing, which may or may not, develop sufficient evidence to identify a perpetrator(s) and have enough evidence to ensure a conviction in a court of law,” that official said.
