A US-led air attack in eastern Syria that killed dozens of government troops fighting so-called Islamic State has endangered an already shaky ceasefire deal, Russian Federation says.
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“Coalition forces would not intentionally strike a known Syrian military unit”, the military statement said.
According to a statement by the USA envoy to NATO, Samantha Power, the coalition halted the attack “when we were informed by Russian Federation that it was possible that we were striking Syrian regime military personnel and vehicles”.
Against a backdrop of rising ethnic and religious tension, fighting elsewhere in the Mideast and Africa, extremist attacks across the world and a warming planet, there are plenty of other issues for the 135 heads of state and government and more than 50 ministers expected to attend to try to tackle.
“Today, in areas close to the Deir al-Zour Airport, the aircraft from the worldwide anti-Islamic State coalition carried out four airstrikes against units of the Syrian government troops surrounded by terrorists”, the ministry’s spokesman Maj.
Russian Federation and Syria said the strikes prove Washington and its allies are sympathetic to ISIS, which they say was able to briefly capture a Syrian position in the wake of the coalition attack. Earlier today the Russians had to call off USA -led airstrikes inside Syria that struck a convoy of Russian-backed Syrian troops.
The Syrian military said the airstrikes enabled an IS advance on a hill overlooking the air base.
This horrific case of mistaken identity occurred in the city of Deir Ezzor, which is mainly under the control of IS. The Russian Defense Ministry said on September 17 that 62 Syrian government soldiers had died.
On Sunday, the state-run SANA news agency quoted an unnamed military official as saying that dozens of IS fighters were killed in the offensive on Tharda mountain under the cover of Syrian airstrikes.
The front line remained quiet in divided second city Aleppo, but civilians have yet to see any aid deliveries – a key component of the truce deal.
On Sunday, ISIL-affiliated news agency Amaq claimed the extremists had shot down a Syrian military plane in the eastern Syrian city of Deir Ezzor.
The Syrian military confirmed the loss of a warplane which it said had been carrying out an operation against the militants. The Russian air force has been carrying out strikes across Syria to bolster President Bashar Assad’s forces for almost a year, and the two militaries work in close coordination.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors the Syrian conflict, said the pilot of the warplane was killed. The Observatory monitoring group said at least 30 Islamic State fighters were killed in heavy Russian air strikes during that fighting.
US Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power also expressed regret for the loss of life, but also accused Russian Federation of pulling a “stunt” by calling for an emergency Security Council meeting over the incident.
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The Syrian military had previously said it would adhere to the weeklong cease-fire until midnight Sunday.
