A city in northeastern Syria has become a flashpoint in the country’s civil war as Syrian warplanes attacked Kurdish forces Thursday, and the United States responded by sending in its own aircraft to protect USA coalition forces in the area.
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The Pentagon said in the days before the airstrikes, Syrian ground troops had also launched ground artillery attacks – causing USA and coalition forces to be concerned about risks to their safety.
Thursday’s strikes were conducted by Syrian bombers SU-24 and have targeted the Kurdish forces who are trained under the supervision of U.S. special advisers.
A Kurdish female fighter from the People’s Protection Units (YPG) gestures as she carries her weapon near al-Hawl area in the southeastern city of Hasakah, Syria November 10, 2015. After an exchange of shelling, which eventually involved Syrian army forces, the government for the first time brought in airstrikes.
“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.
The Russian military says two of its ships have launched cruise missiles at targets in Syria from the eastern Mediterranean Sea.
The Syrian government bombers had been striking Kurdish positions near the city of Hasakah, where the USA has been backing Kurdish forces in the fight against Islamic State.
The coalition is now conducting additional combat air patrols in the region, he added. The development came after Russian Federation this week began using Iranian territory to launch airstrikes in Syria, with Moscow’s bombers flying out of the Islamic Republic for three straight days to hit targets in the war-ravaged country.
No U.S. forces were wounded during the Syrian bombing, according to officials.
A major factor in the sudden public intervention of China into the Syrian conflict, Chinese analysts explained, is last month’s failed US-backed coup in Turkey.
In addition to airstrikes, Syrian government forces used heavy artillery in the city, killing at least 14 people and wounding dozens more, local news reports said.
“We do not have [a] particular amount of victims but about 12 civilian people [were] killed and more than 33 injured”.
Members of the Kurdish Security Forces (Asayish) man a checkpoint while people ride their vehicles to flee Hasaka after the Syrian government deployed warplanes to bomb the Kurdish-held areas in the city. “Every time we liberate an area, the regime is attacking us, in Hasakah or in Qamishli”.
Russia told the planes were not Russian via a U.S.
“After they attacked us, we won’t stop and will continue the fight and finish the regime in Hasakah”, Rasho said.
United States defense officials had told CNN earlier that the military had pulled USA special operations forces from their northern Syria position after the Syrian military began bombing nearby, attacking Kurdish positions in and around the city of Hasakah. Kurdish groups are working to develop their autonomy in northern Syria into a federal system of government, a plan opposed by Bashar Assad. Both countries pledged greater cooperation on resolving the Syria crisis, despite the fact they support opposing sides in the war – Iran is a staunch Assad ally while Ankara backs Syria’s rebels and Asad’s rivals.
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“They would be well advised not to interfere with coalition forces or our partners”, he said.
