US pledges $ 17 million in disaster relief to Lebanon

The US announced on Friday that it was sending $ 17 million in aid to Lebanon after a massive explosion shook its capital Beirut earlier this week, killing at least 150 people and injuring thousands more.

National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien said in a statement that the first wave of aid would “include food, water and critical medical supplies.” He added that the U.S. International Development Agency has deployed a disaster relief response team to “assist in the coordination and delivery of humanitarian assistance.”

Secretary of State Mike PompeoMichael (Mike) Richard PompeoBeirut drags test for US aid to frustrating allies Advocacy groups come out against Trump elects ambassador to Germany US pledges million in disaster relief to Lebanon MORE notes in its own statement that the $ 17 million in disaster relief “increases the $ 403 million in US humanitarian aid to Lebanon since September 2019, including $ 41.6 million in assistance to the [COVID-19] answer. “

Details surrounding the explosion are still somewhat dizzying. President TrumpDonald John TrumpDeWine tests negative for coronavirus a second time Several GOP lawmakers raise concerns over Trump executive orders in Beirut after testing test for US aid to frustrated ally MAY raised eyebrows on Tuesday when he called the explosion an “attack”, citing his military advisers, despite Lebanese officials not saying the same. The president tempered his description of the explosion the next day.

“Whatever happened, it’s terrible,” Trump said in a news release Wednesday. “But they do not really know what it is. Nobody knows yet. At the moment they are looking – I mean, how can you say misfortune?”

“I do not think anyone can say at the moment. We are investigating it very strongly,” he added. “I mean, you have some people who think it was an attack and you have some people who think it was not.”

“In any case, it was a horrific event, and a lot of people were killed, and a huge number of people were badly injured, injured,” he added.

Officials said a large stockpile of ammonium nitrate was stored in a warehouse where the explosions took place.

The Lebanese government has launched its own investigation into the blasts, with officials signaling that the materials had been in the warehouse since 2014.