RUMORS OF WAR: Damascus air defenses reportedly placed on “high alert” for fear of US attack

Syrian air defenses were placed on high alert Monday, according to a report in the pro-regime news site Al Masdar. A source told the newspaper that the Mazzeh airbase was preparing to defend against a possible US missile attack on Damascus. Earlier in the day a top Russian official said the US was

bolstering its military forces in the Middle East in preparation for a strike against Syrian government forces, according to the Russian news agency TASS.Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov told reporters, “the US is making preparations for a missile attack on Syria, which will follow after a staged chemical weapons attack in the province of Idlib, blamed on the Syrian government.” READ MORE