The US military said that the coalition stopped its strikes against what it believed to be Islamic States of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group positions in the eastern city of Deir Az Zor on Saturday after Russian Federation informed it that Syrian military personnel and vehicles may have been hit.
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The news comes as the United States halted its coalition airstrike against the militant group after it accidentally hit the Syrian military.
In an unusual intelligence mistake, the United States had hit positions of the regime’s forces of Bashar al-Assad, killing more than 60 soldiers according to the Russian delegation in Damascus or 80 according to the Syrian observatory of Human rights.
Several people were injured, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said, but it did not say who carried out the strikes.
It said it had targeted Tharda mountain where a Syrian government offensive was seeking to capture Isis positions overlooking the Deir ez-Zour military airport.
A fragile ceasefire to end the violence in Syria was in jeopardy on Sunday as Russian Federation accused the United States of “criminal negligence” following an airstrike that killed dozens of Syrian government soldiers.
The Syrian Foreign Ministry called the USA -led coalition airstrikes a “dangerous and blatant aggression against the Syrian Arab Republic and its army”.
The official said the aircraft were approved to strike what the US military believed were Islamic State fighting positions, weapons and equipment.
The catastrophic blunder is believed to have killed up to 80 Syrian troops, with the U.S. military saying coalition jets mistakenly believed they were targeting ISIS positions. The Russian Defense Ministry said on September 17 that 62 Syrian government soldiers had died. This news story is related to Latest/150813-Moscow-says-strikes-on-Syria-army-threaten-US-Russia-ceasefire-plan/ – breaking news, latest news, pakistan ne.
But he expressed hope that the United States will find a way to convince Russian Federation that it is serious about finding a political solution in Syria and fighting terrorism.
Heavy clashes continued on Sunday east of Damascus in the rebel-held Jobar suburb, the Observatory and a witness said.
The U.S. military says it may have unintentionally struck Syrian troops while carrying out a raid against ISIS on Saturday.
The US strike marked its first attack on Syrian army positions since the coalition started its operations in 2014.
Iran’s official IRNA news agency on Sunday quoted Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Ghasemi as saying the move violated Syria’s sovereignty and “showed that terrorist groups enjoy US support in Syria”. The official also saids the USA will continue to pursue compliance with the cessation of hostilities as it continues military action against IS and an al-Qaida-affiliated group.
Iran has strongly condemned a USA air raid that struck Syrian troops at an eastern base surrounded by the Islamic State group.
“The army has retaken most of its positions on Jabal Therdeh with Russian and Syrian air support”, the source said, referring to the hilltop.
The commander of U.S. forces in the Middle East says the coalition would never intentionally target Syrian government forces.
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The dispute should further complicate humanitarian aid deliveries to Syria, including its largest pre-war city Aleppo, where the fragile truce is under threat.
