Merve Berker
22 August 2026•Update: 22 August 2026
US Ambassador to Ankara Tom Barrack said Saturday intelligence behind an Israeli attack on a military air base in northern Syria was wrong.
Barrack, who also serves as special envoy for Syria and Iraq, commented on Israel’s airstrike on the abandoned Abu al-Duhur Military Air Base in eastern Idlib province.
Barrack said on social media that he did not know why the attack was carried out, but could share the answers given to him.
He said Israel had received intelligence that Türkiye might be moving military assets to the air base in Syria and shared the information with Washington.
The US investigated the intelligence, Barrack said.
“We consulted our intelligence agencies, and the answer we received was that this claim was not true,” he said.
Barrack also said there may have been “a miscommunication” among the Israeli army, Mossad and the Prime Minister’s Office.
He stressed that neither the US nor Türkiye was informed of the attack in advance.
Barrack described the Turkish army as “strong and brave,” saying it is “very well-equipped and knows its job well.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Prime Minister’s Office had claimed that “Turkish soldiers were trying to settle at the base and were deploying military installations moving southward.”
Israeli army warplanes had attacked the abandoned Abu al-Duhur Military Air Base in eastern Idlib province in northern Syria.
No information was shared on whether there were casualties or injuries in the attack.
A Syrian official said Israeli warplanes carried out eight attacks on the air base, targeting the runway and an inactive structure in a hangar.
