The pilots of the F-22 Raptors tried to call the Syrian aircraft cockpit-to-cockpit but got no response.
Advertisement
The city and surrounding areas came under the control of militias led by the YPG in 2012 after regime forces withdrew from the predominantly Kurdish region to focus on fighting rebels elsewhere in Syria.
The coalition made clear to the Russians to pass along to the Syrians that USA aircraft would defend troops on the ground if threatened, the captain said.
Fighting there could complicate the battle against Islamic State because of the Kurds’ pivotal role in the USA -backed Syrian Democratic Forces’ (SDF) fight against the group.
“We will ensure their safety and the Syrian regime would be well-advised not to do things that place them at risk”, he said, stressing that the USA has the “inherent right of self-defence”.
The Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) are a key United States ally in the fight against IS.
The Observatory said there was no let-up in the fighting on the ground which has left 39 people dead since Wednesday, 23 of them civilians, including nine children.
It was the first time the coalition had confirmed deploying warplanes against the Syrian air force.
Russia, the main military backer of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, said on Thursday it was willing to support weekly 48-hour ceasefires to allow aid to reach besieged areas.
“We will ensure their safety and the Syrian regime would be well-advised not to do things that place them at risk”.
Two Syrian regime warplanes attempted to fly to the area again on Friday, but left “without further incident” after meeting coalition aircraft, a US defense official said in a statement.
The Governor wondered that the PKK turned its weapons against the State institutions and the Syrian Arab Army which supported and backed it in its fight against the armed terrorist groups in the province.
When asked if coalition forces were assisting the YPG in al-Hasakah, a USA official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly, said that assistance was being given to the Syrian Democratic Forces.
“It troubles us when we see regime airstrikes in Hasakah in an area where it’s well known by everybody, to include the [Assad] regime, that the coalition is actively engaged in operations against Isis”, the Department of Defence spokesperson said.
Battles raged in Hasakah on Saturday, where residents said government air strikes had killed and injured dozens of civilians, cut off the electricity supply and caused food shortages.
A Syrian military statement said the army had taken the “appropriate response” after Kurdish forces attacked Hasakeh. The following day, the regime launched its first ever air strikes against the Kurds.
USA special operations forces were based about six kilometers (nearly four miles) north of Hasakeh and reinforcements arrived Friday “from inside and outside Syria, accompanied by military helicopters”, Abdel Rahman said.
The targets were linked to the former Al-Nusra Front, now Fateh al-Sham Front, it said.
It was Moscow’s first use of cruise missiles in Syria since December.
Advertisement
More than 290,000 people have been killed since the conflict erupted in March 2011.
