The United States scrambled fighter jets to protect Syrian Kurdish forces, the Pentagon said Friday, as Syrian warplanes bombed the northeastern city of Hasakeh for a second day.
Advertisement
Karasik said Russia, Iran and Turkey have concluded that “the empowerment of Kurdish factions, especially those (trained and supported) by the USA”, is a threat, and that those Kurdish militias “must be put in check” with some deterrence of their on-the-ground support systems. He underscored it is well known that US forces are in the area.
Jamie McIntyre, The Washington Examiner’s Senior Writer for Defense & National Security, published these updates to twitter. VOA video shows Syrian military planes circling over the city as residents sought cover on Friday.
American officials immediately contacted the Russians through communications channels set up by the two militaries under a memorandum of understanding, Davis said.
The Pentagon said in the days before the airstrikes, Syrian ground troops had also launched ground artillery attacks – causing USA and coalition forces to be concerned about risks to their safety.
“We did make clear that USA aircraft would defend troops on the ground if threatened”, he said.
The US has increased air patrols in the area, Davis said.
Rami Abdulrahman, Observatory director, said the fighting began this week after pro-government militiamen detained a number of Kurdish youths, a step that had followed advances by Kurdish security forces towards government-held areas.
Naser Haj Mansour, a Kurdish official in the YPG-affiliated Syria Democratic Forces alliance, said Kurdish forces had taken some additional positions, including an economics college. The militia recently succeeded in ousting IS from Manbij, a strategic city in northern Syria near the Turkish border. The airstrikes occurred in the general area where American special operations forces train and partner with the Kurdish forces against ISIS. But local fighters being assisted by U.S. Special Operations forces on the ground are often opposed to both the Islamic State and the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
This article first appeared on RT.
The air strikes come in the wake of clashes between the Syrian regime and Kurdish forces – part of the administration that announced a semi-autonomous region in northern Syria. The statement said the military’s response was “appropriate” and that futher attacks would be met with force.
Last week, the Syria Democratic Forces, a coalition led by the YPG, captured the former Daesh stronghold of Manbij in northern Syria under the cover of airstrikes by the USA -led coalition. “The Russians said it was not them”, he said. The government has a base outside Hasakah and operates an air facility at Qamishli; the YPG generally does not interfere with road travel between the two cities.
Advertisement
“And, we will ensure their safety”, the captain said.
