This very public feud between Russian Federation and the United States comes as the two countries are forced to work together to maintain a very fragile, nationwide cease-fire in Syria that they helped put into effect on Monday.
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A Russian defence ministry spokesman said 62 Syrian soldiers had been reported killed in the USA -led coalition air strike on a military base.
Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov says the airstrike on Saturday took place near the Deir el-Zour airport in eastern Syria and was carried out by two F-16s and two A-10s. He did not identify the planes’ country affiliation, but said they were part of the global coalition.
Konashenkov says Syrian authorities told the Russians that 62 soldiers were killed and more than 100 wounded. Shortly after this, an urgent call came into the U.S. military command center in Qatar, which coordinates the aerial campaign in Syria and Iraq. Instead, the government said it was “a very serious and flagrant aggression” that aided the Islamic State and proved its long-held assertion that the United States supports the jihadi group as part of an effort to oust President Bashar Assad.
The cease-fire took effect on Monday, and despite reports of violations, it has largely held.
Syria’s military says the US -led coalition struck its base in the eastern province of Deir el-Zour, allowing the Islamic State group to advance in the fiercely contested area.
There was no immediate comment from Washington.
Syria’s national TV also confirmed the killing of Syrian servicemen by the US -led coalition.
“The coalition airstrike was halted immediately when coalition officials were informed by Russian officials that it was possible the personnel and vehicles targeted were part of the Syrian military”, it said.
The statement calls it a “serious and blatant attack on Syria and its military” and “firm proof of the US support of Daesh and other terrorist groups”.
“These attacks confirmed that the US clearly supports the terrorism of Daesh”, SAMA television, a state-run news outlet, said, using an Arabic acronym for the Islamic State group, which is also known as ISIS.
He suggested Washington may be trying to maintain the combat potential of rebels fighting the Syrian government, adding the USA government could not separate the so-called healthy part of the opposition from what he called “the half-criminal and terrorist elements”.
USA officials have a different view, with Kerry expressing concern in a Friday phone call to Lavrov “about the repeated and unacceptable delays of humanitarian aid” according to a State Department statement.
“This might put in danger this Joint Implementation Center that the United States and the Russians are supposed to set up in the next few days to coordinate just these kinds of strikes against ISIS and to prevent just what happened”, he said Saturday.
The Syrian government said it has done all that is necessary to facilitate the entry of aid convoys to Aleppo, but that armed groups have failed to withdraw from the supply routes and are committing “dangerous, provocative acts”. They have besieged civilian areas, prevented lifesaving humanitarian aid from reaching people who are starving to death and dying of illnesses that could be treated with basic medicine which is ripped out of trucks and pocketed by Syrian regime forces. The U.N. has said both sides in the war are to blame for the delay of aid to Aleppo, where neither has yet withdrawn from the Castello Road into the city.
Cook also said Russian officials did not voice concerns earlier on Saturday when informed that coalition aircraft would be operating in the strike area.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group gave a toll of 83 soldiers killed, as it confirmed the strikes were US-led coalition raids. A video of the rescue mission shows bodies strewn across the ground. Syrian state-run news agency SANA said the military was able to regain control of the area ISIS held briefly.
A senior administration official told CNN late Saturday the U.S. relayed its regret through Russian Federation for the “unintentional loss of life”. No injuries or damage were reported.
“The coalition will review this strike and the circumstances surrounding it to see if any lessons can be learned”, U.S. Central Command said in its statement. 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.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry had similar words, according to spokeswoman Maria Zakharova.
“I don’t really understand why we have to keep such an agreement closed”, Putin was quoted as saying Saturday during a trip to Kyrgyzstan.
“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”, Putin said during a trip to Kyrgyzstan.
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Putin said Washington apparently “has the desire to keep the capabilities to fight the lawful government of President Assad”, calling it a “very unsafe path”.
