“Today, in areas close to the Deir al-Zour Airport, the aircraft from the worldwide anti-Islamic State coalition carried out four airstrikes against units of the Syrian government troops surrounded by terrorists”, the ministry’s spokesman Maj.
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The Syrian Foreign Ministry called the US -led coalition airstrikes a “dangerous and blatant aggression against the Syrian Arab Republic and its army”.
The truce, aimed at halting military operations by Syrian forces, their Russian allies and USA -backed rebels seeking to oust the Assad government, was created to clear the way for humanitarian aid to besieged areas of the country.
Moscow accused Washington of not cooperating.
She said the United States was investigating the airstrike 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”.
“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 Observatory said Russian jets had been conducting bombing in the area at the same time, that Islamic State fighters took control of army positions on Jebel Tharda after the air strike and that clashes between them had followed.
The United Nations Security Council has scheduled a closed emergency meeting at Russia’s request to discuss the incident.
“The actions of the pilots – if they, as we hope, were not taken on orders from Washington – fall between criminal negligence and direct pandering to ISIS terrorists”, it said.
However, shortly after the bombing started Russian officials advised the multinational Combined Air Operations Centre that the targets may have been Syrian military personnel.
Russian Federation convened an emergency UN Security Council Session on US-Led coalition airstrikes against the Syrian Army which Moscow fears will undermine the breakthrough ceasefire agreement that just went into effect earlier this week, Sputnik İnternational reported.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitoring group with contacts across Syria, cited a military source at Deir al-Zor airport as saying at least 90 Syrian soldiers had been killed.
A Russian Defence Ministry official stated that Syria informed them that 62 of its soldiers were killed in the airstrike.
The US and Russian Federation have co-sponsored a ceasefire and were looking to extend the deal, but Russian Federation warned it was looking shaky.
The Syrian military confirmed the loss of a warplane which it said had been carrying out an operation against the militants.
Putin said Washington apparently “has the desire to keep the capabilities to fight the lawful government of President Assad”, calling it a “very risky path”.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, a key ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, said earlier Saturday he remained “positive” about the truce but accused rebels of “attempts to regroup”.
The diplomatic row is likely to further complicate the delivery of much-needed humanitarian aid to Syria.
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“These strikes endanger everything that has been done so far by the global community” to end the war, foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said.
