The incident has threatened an already-fragile USA and Russian-brokered cease-fire that has largely held despite dozens of alleged violations on both sides.
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The strikes near Deir Ezzor Airport – which the U.S. says were meant to target ISIS but instead killed 62 Syrian soldiers, according to the Russian military – sparked a furious row between the USA and Russian ambassadors to the United Nations outside an emergency Security Council meeting.
The so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a group based in Britain, cited a military source at Deir ez-Zor airport as saying at least 90 Syrian soldiers had been killed, Reuters reported. The Syrian Air Force carried out “concentrated airstrikes” on IS positions in the Deir ez-Zor neighborhoods of al-Tharda Mountain, al-Orfi and al-Kanamat.
The Syrian Foreign Ministry called the USA -led coalition airstrikes a “dangerous and blatant aggression against the Syrian Arab Republic and its army”. “Now there can be no doubts about that”, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in comments aired by state TV. Government areas have been relying on airlifted aid. It called the incident a serious and blatant aggression, SANA reported. A Syrian military statement said the plane had come down during an operation against Islamic State in Deir al-Zor and the pilot had died.
The base and adjacent government-held neighbourhoods of Deir Ezzor city have been under siege since 2012 and have been dependent on resupply by air.
IS controls much of the province that carries the same name and borders Iraq. The cease-fire does not include IS and al-Qaida-linked militants.
Russian Federation has repeatedly called on the United States to push units of moderate Syrian opposition to separate from Islamic State and other “terrorist groups”.
“Bombing ceased immediately”, it said.
Also on Sunday, some four million students headed to 15,000 schools for the start of a new school year, state media said.
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If US-led coalition airstrikes did hit Syrian forces Saturday, it was unintentional and Washington regrets any loss of life, she said before proceeding to list atrocities she said the Syrian regime has perpetuated during the five-year civil war.
