In a statement, the USA military’s Central Command admitted it had been carrying out a strike against a suspected Islamic State position in the eastern province of Deir al-Zour, but said it called off the assault after Russian Federation said it was Syrian army positions that were being attacked, and not the Islamic State.
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The strike in Deir al-Zour was not deliberate but the result of confusion about which force the targets were fighting for, according to the coalition.
The Syrian military said the deadly airstrike hit a base in the eastern city of Deir el-Zour that is surrounded by IS, allowing the extremists to advance and overrun Syrian army positions in the area.
The U.S. military, in an apparent admission that it may have hit the position, said in a statement that coalition air strikes near Deir al-Zor had been halted when Russian Federation told coalition officials they may have hit the Syrian army.
According to the BBC, the incident is the first time USA forces have been involved in a confirmed attack on Syrian forces. Many more have undoubtedly died since.
The Pentagon said Saturday it had halted an airstrike over Syria after Russian Federation and the Syrian government accused USA warplanes of responsibility for killing 60 Syrian soldiers.
“We have reached the terrifying conclusion that the U.S.is conniving with Daesh”, the Russian foreign ministry had said after the Pentagon’s confirmation that regime soldiers were hit in the strikes.
Moscow stressed that it was concerned by the U.S. airstrike targeting the Syrian army units which had been destroying the Islamic State. They are not satisfied with the US-Russia agreement.
The Observatory monitoring group said at least 20 Islamic State fighters were killed in heavy Russian air strikes during that fighting.
Russian Federation and the United States brokered a cease-fire in Syria that took effect on Monday and has largely held despite dozens of alleged violations.
Russian Federation called for an emergency session of the U.N. Security Council and demanded “full and detailed explanations about whether this was deliberate support of the Islamic State or another mistake”. No aid has entered since the cease-fire agreement was reached. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said a woman and child were killed Saturday in Talbiseh, in the central Homs province.
A senior White House official said the United States has relayed “regret” through the Russian government for the unintentional loss of life to Syrian forces.
“The coalition will review this strike and the circumstances surrounding it to see if any lessons can be learned”, the U.S Central Command statement said.
Earlier this month, the two world powers struck a ceasefire agreement, which took effect Monday.
“This comes from the problems the U.S.is facing on the Syrian track – they still can not separate the so-called healthy part of the opposition from the half-criminal and terrorist elements”, he said.
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About 25 minutes into the strike, the Russians called the United States and said coalition forces were hitting Syrian troops, the USA official said. “But this is a very risky route”.
