US defense officials say the USA has asked Russian Federation to avoid airstrikes in an area of northern Syria where American special operations forces have been working with Syrians fighting the Islamic State group.
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Asked whether the USA had offered the Russians anything in exchange, Brown said that the Russians had requested – even before the Special Forces request was made – that the US steer clear of airfields being used by Russia in its Syria campaign.
“It was a reasonable request to make”, Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook told reporters.
While the US and Russian Federation are not coordinating operations in Syria they do maintain a communications mechanism so as to avoid any accidental clashes.
Cook said the Pentagon request had “so far been honored” by the Russians.
“When the decision was made to put special operators into Syria, there was a formal request made geographic areas specifically, not pinpoint locations, to protect the safety of our people”, Cook said.
“We are protecting the safety of USA troops in harm’s way, and taking every step we can, maintaining operational security”.
Though Russian airstrikes have been largely directed towards supporting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s ground forces, some airstrikes have hit the Islamic State in areas where USA aircraft are operating. “But I – we don’t intend to discuss that with – I – this particular kind of activity, and again, they’re operating in an entirely different part of the country”, he said en route to Alaska.
US warplanes carried out strikes targeting Islamic State militants at a training facility in Libya on Friday. Cook said Thursday that the disclosure of the special forces’ location was outside the scope of the deal, explaining that it was done to ensure the USA forces’ safety.
“They don’t want us flying close to (these, )” Brown said. “And so until they alter that policy, we don’t see much of an area for – for further cooperation”, he said.
Cook thanked Britain for offering its airbases to launch the attack, but declined to say which bases the United States had used. “And I don’t think the Russians want to escalate against the coalition”.
As the top commander for developing contingency plans for U.S. Central Command, Brown also addressed a possible no-fly zone in Syria – support for which was voiced last week by German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
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The US has since August 2014 led an worldwide coalition against the IS group in Iraq and Syria.
