Saudi Arabia’s Gulf Affairs Minister Thamer al-Sabhan
Saudi Arabia’s Gulf Affairs Minister Thamer al-Sabhan was killed in an ISIS suicide bombing, which took in the town of Manbij on January 16, the Arab media outlet Eldyar reported.
The Manbij attack killed or injured over 25 people. The Pentagon officially confirmed that 2 US service members, a US Defense Department civilian employee and a contractor supporting the department were killed and 3 US service members were injured in attack.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) claimed on January 17 that a team of the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) had arrived in the northern town in order to launch an investigation into the incident.
The report about the death of al-Sabhan has not been officially confirmed by official sources. However, if this icnident is confirmed, this will be a major blow to the US attempts to involve Saudi Arabia further into its plans for keeping control of a post-war Syria.
Previously, several Saudi delegations visited the US-occupied part of Syria in the framework of political efforts of the US-led coalition. US President Donald Trump repeatedly vowed that local powers, first of all Saudi Arabia, has to fund the US actions in Syria.
