Regime forces and Kurdish fighters yesterday agreed to a truce in the northeastern Syrian city of Hasakeh after a week of clashes, a Kurdish official and Syrian state media said.
Advertisement
“From the beginning the regime jets carried out strikes for two or three days, but after that they stopped”, Rasho said. No weapons were fired but the presence of the coalition aircraft encouraged the Syrian aircraft to depart the airspace without incident, according to the official, who was not authorized the discuss the incident by name and spoke on condition of anonymity.
“There were heavy clashes, artillery fire and rocket attacks throughout the night and ongoing in the morning”, Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP.
“We view instances that place the coalition at risk with utmost seriousness and we do have the inherent right of self-defense”.
Cook says the Syrians have been warned repeatedly that the USA will defend its forces on the ground, and that their warplanes should not fly in areas near US troops.
The Syrian official said that instead of making such demands, Kurdish forces should cooperate with Syrian government troops to fight Islamic State militants in the country. Regime aircraft flew over Hasakeh early August 21, most of which is under Kurdish control, but without carrying out any bombing raids, the Observatory said.
On Monday, the Pentagon warned the Syrian army against carrying out airstrikes in northern Syria, where the U.S. has Special Forces on the ground advising the YPG and SDF.
Ground fighting intensified late on Friday when Kurdish YPG fighters battled Syrian forces, whose air force flew sorties over the city, Kurds and monitors said.
On Aug. 18, US jets were dispatched to intercept the Syrian attack planes that were attacking targets near Hasakah supporting regime forces fighting the Syrian Kurdish forces.
He said coalition aircraft were now carrying out additional combat patrols in the region.
Faysal Itani, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council think tank, said it was easy for the Syrian government to avoid bombing large bases, but far more risky to strike areas close to YPG forces being trained by US forces.
The Observatory said thousands of inhabitants had begun to flee the city, where bread was running out and electricity has been cut.
The Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) are a key U.S. ally in the fight against IS.
In Friday’s aerial encounter, the US pilots tried to contact the Syrian pilots by radio but there was no response.
A Kurdish journalist who is in Hassakeh, Heybar Othman, told the BBC that it was the first time the Syrian government had used air power against the city.
That has not since been repeated, Cook said, but he added, “we will send aircraft again to defend our forces” if needed. Thursday’s airstrikes and the attempted flyover by Syrian fighter jets on Friday both occurred in the general area where American special operations forces train and partner with the Kurdish forces against ISIS.
Separately, two Russian ships in the Mediterranean launched long-range cruise missiles against jihadist targets in Syria, the Russian defense ministry said.
Advertisement
“We don’t have [a] specific number of casualties but approximately 12 civilian people [were] killed and more than 33 injured”.
