American fighter planes have been scrambled to the Syrian city of Hassakeh to protect USA special forces on the ground from Syrian government aerial attacks, the U.S. military says.
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“As we’ve said in the past, the Syrian regime would be well-advised not to interfere with coalition forces or our partners”, Davis said.
“If the USA -led coalition think for once that by allowing them into Syrian airspace they can do whatever they wish inside, they are mistaken”, said a post on a Syrian Arab Army Facebook page.
Davis said he was not aware of any other instances where coalition aircraft had been scrambled to respond to Syrian government bombing.
“This was done as a measure to protect coalition forces”, Davis said.
“And, we will ensure their safety”, the captain said.
But the warning appeared to fall on deaf ears – Syrian regime warplanes bombarded Hasakeh for a second day on Friday.
Navy Capt. Jeff Davis said the US has increased combat air patrols in that area and has warned Syria that America will defend coalition troops. The official said the presence of American F-22 aircraft “encouraged the Syrian aircraft to depart the airspace without further incident”.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an activist group that tracks the conflict, said the fighting first began Wednesday.
Davis said no coalition injuries were reported in Thursday’s strike by two Syrian SU-24s, and U.S. special operations advisers have been moved to a safe location.
Thousands are reported to have fled their homes.
As soon as the strikes began, Kurdish ground forces unsuccessfully tried to hail the pilots via radio.
Up to 300 U.S. Special Operations forces have been authorized by the White House to operate in northern Syria in support of Kurdish and Arab rebel groups fighting ISIS.
“This is very unusual, we have not seen the regime take this type of action against YPG before”, Davis said of the US-supported Kurdish People’s Protection Units fighting the Islamic State group in northern Syria.
“We view instances that place coalition personnel at risk with the utmost seriousness”, Davis added, “and we do have the inherent right of self-defense when USA forces are at risk”.
Nasser Haj Mansour of the predominantly Kurdish Syria Democratic Forces said Syrian government warplanes and helicopters launched more attacks on areas controlled by Kurdish fighters on Friday.
The area around Hassakeh had witnessed battles between the two sides in the past but this week’s violence has been among the worst since Kurdish fighters took control of wide, predominantly Kurdish areas in northern Syria in 2012.
A government source in the city told Agence France-Presse (AFP) that the air strikes were “a message to the Kurds that they should stop this sort of demand that constitutes an affront to national sovereignty”.
The Kurds, the individuals said, think the government-backed moves are linked to a secret agreement between Assad and Turkey – which publicly backs US insistence that a peace agreement in Syria is not possible until Assad leaves office.
Elsewhere in Syria on Friday, two Russian warships operating in the Mediterranean Sea fired volleys of Kalibr cruise missiles at Nusra Front targets in Syria.
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“We don’t have [a] specific number of casualties but approximately 12 civilian people [were] killed and more than 33 injured”.
