“This was done as a measure to protect coalition forces”, said Captain Jeff Davis, spokesman for the Pentagon, about the confrontation which occurred Thursday and which marks a further escalation in the bloody conflict in Syria.
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Syrian government warplanes were again in the air over the mainly Kurdish-held city of Hasakeh early Saturday despite a USA warning against any new strikes that might endanger its military advisers, a monitor said.
Kurds in Syria (15% of the population) self-proclaimed in March a “federal region” and dream of linking the areas under their control in the north.
Thousands of civilians in the ethnically mixed city, including members of the Christian community, have fled to villages in the countryside as the fighting intensified, residents said.
The northeastern city has seen increasing ground clashes between the Kurdish YPG fighters and Syrian regime forces.
“In order to put pressure on Islamic State (Isis) mercenaries, the Ba’athist regime has targeted our positions in Hassakeh, and the global coalition supporting us should make its attitude clear about these attacks”, he said. “They would be advised not to fly where our forces are operating”.
Davis said no coalition injuries were reported in Thursday’s strike by two Syrian SU-24s, and USA advisers were moved to a safe location. Davis also said the regime planes did not respond to United States ground forces’ efforts to contact them.
USA forces then contacted Russia, which has been bombing parts of Syria for almost a year in support of President Bashar al-Assad, but Russian military officials said the planes were Syrian.
Amid continued fighting between the Kurdish forces and the regime militias, Russian Federation is trying to negotiate a peace deal between the warring parties. The U.S. aircraft narrowly missed intercepting the Syrian planes, which had already left the scene near the town of Hasakah, U.S. officials said Friday.
Local media report that the fighting in Hasakah broke out earlier this week between the pro-government National Defense Forces (NDF) militia and the Kurdish forces, with the Syrian Army role limited to 10 airstrikes against the Kurds.
They said Kurdish forces began the offensive after midnight to take the southern district of East Nashwa, close to where a security compound is located, near the governor’s office.
The coalition is conducting additional air patrols in the area after U.S. advisers were moved to a safe location without suffering any casualties, Davis said.
Last week, long-range Russian Tupolev-22M3 bombers and Sukhoi-34 fighter bombers used the Nojeh air base, near the city of Hamadan in north-west Iran, to launch air strikes against armed groups in Syria.
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Syria has been gripped by civil war since March 2011 with various terrorist groups, including Daesh (also known as ISIS or ISIL), now controlling parts of it.
