USA fighter jets scrambled to eastern Syria this week when Syrian bombers attacked in the vicinity of American and coalition Special Operations forces working with Kurdish and Arab opposition fighters, the Pentagon said Friday.
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Pentagon spokesman Captain Jeff Davis said the incident was not an intercept and the coalition aircraft reached the area by the time the Syrian government warplanes were leaving.
Davis said more US combat air patrols have been sent to the area to ensure safety for forces on the ground.
Syrian government jets have reportedly bombed Kurdish-held areas of the north-eastern city of Hassakeh for the first time since the civil war began in 2011. The YPG has controlled most of Hasaka city since a year ago.
The YPG claimed that the Syrian airstrikes came to undermine the “sweeping victories” scored by the YPG and its militia called the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) against the Islamic State (IS) group.
“We’ve not seen the regime take this kind of action against YPG before”, he said, using an acronym for Syrian Kurdish fighters.
The YPG makes up a significant proportion of the US-backed Syria Democratic Forces (SDF), a Kurdish and Arab alliance fighting Isis insurgents in Syria.
Knowing Russia’s strong support for the regime of Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad, Davis said a message was sent for them to pass along to the Syrian military “stating our intent to take whatever action is necessary”. It is also a key U.S. ally in the fight against ISIL. The spokesman said Russia indicated that Russian aircraft were not involved in the strikes in Hasaka, and “we made clear that coalition aircraft would defend its troops on the ground if threatened”.
According to military officials, the strikes were launched by Syrian Su-24 fighter jets flying over Hasakah.
While frequent skirmishes have arisen in Hasakah and Qamishli between the YPG and the government-backed militias, “they haven’t escalated to a huge degree”, said Chris Kozak of the Institute for the Study of War.
It added that at least 25 people, including 10 children, were killed during the two-day escalation in Hasakah.
The two sides have mostly avoided direct fighting but have periodically clashed in Hasakeh and Qamishli, a city near the border with Turkey where the regime also controls some neighborhoods and the airport. The group has ties to the Kurdistan Workers Party in Turkey. Syrian government forces have been bombing Kurdish-controlled portions of Hassakeh in recent days, and scores of residents have fled the city.
Rami Abdulrahman, of the SOHR, said the fighting began this week after pro-government militiamen detained a number of Kurdish youths, a step that was followed by advances of Kurdish security forces towards government-held areas.
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Rebel-held Madaya near Damascus is under siege by government forces and their allies, and government-held Foua in northern Idlib province, is besieged by opposition fighters.
