“Syria is a complex situation with various military forces and militias in close proximity, but coalition forces would not intentionally strike a known Syrian military unit”, the statement read.
Advertisement
“Coalition forces believed they were striking a Daesh fighting position”, said a Pentagon statement, referring to the extremist group in its Arabic acronym.
The US military says coalition forces allied in a fight against Islamic State stopped a bombing operation in eastern Syria when they learned from Russian officials that the target possibly belonged to the Syrian military.
Air strikes blamed by Moscow and Damascus on the US-led coalition hit a Syrian army position in the east on Saturday, killing more than 60 soldiers, the Russian army said.
Russian defence ministry spokesman Maj-Gen Igor Konashenkov said the attack was on Syrian troops surrounded by IS fighters and was carried out by two F-16 and two A10 aircraft flying in from Iraq.
The general command of the Syrian army accused the USA of supporting the IS in the attack in Deir al-Zour.
The US military said on Saturday that an airstrike carried out by coalition’s jets may have hit Syrian soldiers but the target was not the regime forces.
Syria’s national TV also confirmed the killing of Syrian servicemen by the USA -led coalition.
The Latest on the conflict in Syria, where the USA military says it may have unintentionally struck government forces.
“We see attempts to regroup among these terrorists, to switch one label for another, one name for another and keep their military capacity”, he said in televised remarks.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Saturday he remained “more positive than negative” over the ceasefire, although in comments delivered in Kyrgyzstan he cast doubt on Washington’s commitment to the deal, saying it was “deviating” from its own call for openness and had been unable to split moderate from “semi-criminal” rebels. “That explanation must be given at the U.N. Security Council”.
She said the United States was investigating the air strikes and “if we determine that we did indeed strike Syrian military personnel, that was not our intention and we of course regret the loss of life”. There had been 55 attacks on government positions and civilians, with 12 killed, including two children and a volunteer with the Syrian Red Crescent, said the general.
During the scheduled meeting, U.S. and Russian envoys were to present details of the joint agreement that calls for a ceasefire, the delivery of aid and joint targeting of Islamist rebels in Syria.
The United Nations Security Council has scheduled an emergency meeting for Saturday night at Russia’s request to discuss the airstrike. No aid has entered since the cease-fire agreement was reached.
The closed-door consultations were called off after Moscow and Washington failed to agree over disclosing details of the ceasefire to the council.
The Russian Foreign Ministry says Lavrov told Kerry that Russia has coordinated the aid delivery with Syrian government forces and called on Washington to exercise similar influence with Syrian rebels.
She said the USA is investigating the incident in remarks made outside the Security Council chamber on Saturday night, as Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin was condemning the United States air strike inside the closed meeting. The cease-fire, which does not apply to attacks on IS, has already been the subject of disputes between Moscow and Washington, with each accusing the other of failing to fully implement it.
But Washington has warned Russian Federation that unless aid is delivered to Aleppo, it will not move ahead with the formation of the joint coordination center.
Advertisement
Almost half a million people have been killed in the Syrian conflict since 2011.
