Syria’s army general command said warplanes from the US -led coalition bombed a Syrian army position at Jebel Tharda near Deir al-Zor airport on Saturday, paving the way for Islamic State fighters to overrun it.
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A strike list issued by the USA on Saturday said it had carried out a strike at Deir al-Zor against five Islamic State supply routes, as well as strikes near Raqqa and elsewhere in Syria. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said the airstrike near Deir el-Zour airport was conducted by two F-16s and two A-10s.
The Operation Inherent Resolve press office declined to comment the issue, referring the question to the US Central Command.
Russian Federation has bitterly complained about what it says is a US reluctance to abide by the terms of a shaky ceasefire brokered by Moscow and Washington which it says made provision for joint targeting of Islamic State and other militant groups. Lavrov repeated its insistence that the United States release the documents detailing the agreement, saying that the secrecy has promoted “liberal and sometimes distorted interpretations” of the deal. The dueling statements both blamed the other side, while the State Department conceded there had been unspecified “violations” on both sides.
“This comes from the problems the U.S.is facing on the Syrian track – they still can not separate the so-called healthy part of the opposition from the half-criminal and terrorist elements”, he said.
The U.N. has accused Assad’s government of obstructing aid access to the contested city.
The Syrian Foreign Ministry said it sent an urgent message asking the Security Council to “condemn the US aggression”, TASS reported, citing a statement released by Syria’s SANA news.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry have spoken by telephone about the fragile cease-fire in Syria and efforts to deliver aid to the northern city of Aleppo.
He suggested Washington’s resistance stems from a hope to retain the combat potential of forces fighting the Syrian government.
But Washington has warned Russian Federation that unless aid is delivered to Aleppo, it will not move ahead with the formation of the joint coordination center. “But this is a very unsafe route”.
If the strikes were a targeting error, the ministry said the bombings were evidence of Washington’s refusal to consult Russian Federation over its military action in Syria. Syria’s state news agency SANA said insurgents have violated the cease-fire 12 times in the last 12 hours. No casualties were reported.
Air raids on a Syrian army position in the country’s east on Saturday killed at least 30 soldiers, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor said.
The Syrian Civil Defense group in Homs says government artillery caused the deaths in Talbiseh. It says two men were killed outside Damascus and a child was killed in Aleppo province.
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Syria’s conflict has killed more than 300,000 people and displaced half the country’s population since March 2011.
