Individuals in the northeastern city that is Syrian say Kurdish districts have been strike by authorities warplanes there for the previous two days.
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In another escalation of the five-year war, regime planes this week bombarded positions held by US -backed Kurdish forces in the city fighting the Islamic State (IS) jihadist group.
The Observatory said there was no let-up in the fighting on the ground which has left 39 people dead since Wednesday, 23 of them civilians, including nine children. In the northern province of Aleppo, the scene of heavy clashes all month between government forces and rebels allied with jihadists, 28 civilians were among 38 people killed on Saturday in strikes by the regime and its Russian allies, the Observatory said.
More than 290,000 people have been killed since Syria’s conflict erupted in March 2011.
No US forces were wounded during the Syrian bombing, according to officials.
The Pentagon said no coalition casualties were reported in Friday’s strikes by two Syrian SU-24s, and USA special operations advisers had been moved to a safe location.
The encounter highlights a longstanding risk of USA involvement in Syria: the prospect that a direct attack on US forces by the Syrian government or its Russian allies could dramatically raise the stakes in the conflict for Washington and test the resolve of a White House with limited appetite for military intervention.
Around two-thirds of the city is controlled by Kurdish forces, while the rest is held by pro-government militia.
In light of regime airstrikes targeting the YPG close to nearby US troops, the Pentagon (headquarters of the US Department of Defense) warned the Assad regime Friday to not attack near US forces, The Wall Street Journal reports.
A government source in Hasakeh said the air strikes were “a message to the Kurds that they should stop this sort of demand”, after Kurds called for the dissolution of a pro-regime militia.
The coalition scrambled its own jets to the area in a bid to intercept the Syrian jets, but the regime planes had left by the time they arrived.
Navy Capt. Jeff Davis on Friday said that the US has warned Syria that America will defend coalition troops.
“Right now in the city you don’t have electricity, you don’t have bread”, he said.
Despite the warnings from Washington, America’s North Atlantic Treaty Organisation ally Turkey is willing to accept a role for Syrian President Bashar Assad during a transitional period.
Speaking in Istanbul, Mr Yildirim said that Turkey would aim to become more of a regional player with regard to Syria in the next six months. U.S. special operations forces have been in the area for months conducting training and advisory missions with the Arab and Kurdish elements of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), the major United States ally in the region.
Turkey is one of the main supporters of rebels fighting to overthrow Assad, and hosts more than 2.7 million Syrian refugees.
It’s unclear where the US planes were scrambled from, for security reasons, but the Pentagon maintains a fleet of Air Force F-15 Eagles at Incirlik Air Base in Turkey.
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It was Moscow’s first use of cruise missiles in Syria since December. He said the Syrian military would be “well-advised” not to interfere with USA forces or their coalition partners fighting Islamic State in the country.
