The unprecedented strikes prompted the US-led coalition to scramble aircraft to protect its special operations forces helping the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) as they battle IS in northern Syria.
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It was the first time that Syrian aircraft appeared to threaten USA troops since the Pentagon began deploying American special operations forces into Syria past year.
It was not immediately clear whether the aircraft had carried out any bombing runs as there were heavy artillery exchanges on the ground.
Last week, the SDF, backed by US airstrikes and Special Operations forces wrested the Syrian city of Manbij from the Islamic State.
YPG spokesman Redur Khalil denounced Thursday’s government air raids on Hassakeh as an act of “suicide”, adding that Assad’s forces would be held accountable for these “brutal, blatant attacks against our people”.
Davis said coalition forces attempted to reach the pilots of the Russian-made jets on the appropriate radio frequency but got no response – leaving them confused as to the bombers’ intentions.
In response to the strikes, USA military officials contacted their Russian counterparts also operating in Syria, who offered their assurances that their planes weren’t operating in the area.
The Pentagon said the US -led coalition aircraft were sent near Hasaka in response to the bombings to protect coalition special operation forces on the ground. “We view instances that place the coalition at risk with utmost seriousness and we do have the inherent right of self defense”.
While perhaps not a change in policy, both Townsend and Cook’s statements are unusual in that they represent the first time the Pentagon has issued such warnings openly to Russian Federation and Syria.
Two American fighter jets approached two Syrian attack jets near the northeast part of the war-torn country Friday, and the Syrian aircraft left the area, a US defense official said. “No weapons were fired by the coalition fighters”.
In light of regime airstrikes targeting the YPG close to nearby US troops, the Pentagon (headquarters of the US Department of Defense) warned the Assad regime Friday to not attack near US forces, The Wall Street Journal reports.
The U.S. has since stepped up air patrols in the area to ensure coalition forces remain protected, officials said.
In a separate development on Monday, Kurdish forces in the Syrian city of Hasakah violated a ceasefire agreement they had struck with Syrian army forces on Sunday under a Russian mediation.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an activist group that tracks the conflict, said the fighting first began Wednesday.
Just a month prior to that, the Obama administration announced that it was sending 250 more special operators to Syria, to bolster the force of about 50 that were already on the ground.
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He suggested that the same warning will apply to other areas where USA forces may move in the future.
