Syrian troops counterattacked against the Islamic State group around a key eastern airbase Sunday, September 18, after a US-led coalition air strike killed scores of soldiers forcing a retreat, military sources said.
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An Australian defence department statement said its jets had targeted what had been thought to be Islamic State (Isis) fighters.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says warplanes fired four missiles on Sunday.
The attacks took place on the day when coalition planes hit Syrian army positions at a military airport near Deir ez-Zor, which is besieged by Daesh.
Syria’s ceasefire was hanging by a thread yesterday, after tensions escalated between Moscow and Washington over a US-led coalition air strike that killed dozens of Syrian soldiers battling jihadists.
In return, Russia’s foreign ministry said that US air strikes on the Assad regime could jeopardize the Russian Federation and the USA – brokered cease-fire in Syria that took effect on Monday.
“Syria is a complex situation with various military forces and militias in close proximity, but coalition forces would not intentionally strike a known Syrian military unit”, they said.
The United States military said the coalition stopped the attacks against what it had believed to be Islamic State positions in northeast Syria after Russian Federation informed it that Syrian military personnel and vehicles may have been hit.
The Russian foreign ministry statement also described U.S. explanations at an emergency United Nations security council session on Saturday night as an “an unconstructive and indistinct position”.
Russian Federation on Friday said the Syrian army had initially withdrawn but returned to its positions after being fired on by rebels, who in turn say they saw no sign of government forces ever leaving their positions.
Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman said Russian warplanes pounded IS positions around Deir Ezzor late Saturday as fierce clashes broke out between IS and forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad.
The U.S. military said it may have unintentionally struck Syrian troops while carrying out a raid against IS on Saturday. The US military said it was targeting ISIS militants and if it hit Syrian troops, it was an accident. The Russian air force has been carrying out strikes across Syria to bolster President Bashar Assad’s forces for almost a year, and the two militaries work in close coordination. The official also says the USA will continue to pursue compliance with a cessation of hostilities as it continues military action against IS and an al-Qaeda-affiliated group in Syria. “If what Ambassador Power has done today is any indication of their possible reaction then we are in serious trouble”, Churkin told reporters. IS-linked media also reported the incident.
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A tentative truce between Russian Federation and the USA came into effect in conflict-ridden Syria last Monday, brokered after months of tenuous back-and-forth.
