Syria and Russian Federation on Saturday accused the USA -led coalition of striking a Syrian army base in the eastern part of the country, alleging scores of casualties among government troops and blaming the raid for an Islamic State advance in the area.
Advertisement
If the strikes were a targeting error, the ministry said the bombings were evidence of Washington’s refusal to consult Russian Federation over its military action in Syria.
The US-led coalition conducted four airstrikes on the Deir ez-Zor military airport, that has been besieged by militants of the Islamic State (ISIS) for months.
Earlier, the Russian army released a statement saying that two F-16 and two A-10 jets with the global anti-jihadi coalition flew into Syrian airspace from Iraq to carry out four airstrikes against Syrian forces surrounded by IS at the Deir el-Zour air base.
Syria’s armed forces said coalition aircraft hit a Syrian military position near the Deir Ezzor airport in the country’s east, in what appears to have been the first time coalition forces have hit a Syrian regime target.
Earlier on Saturday, Russia and Syrian rebels cast doubt over the prospects for the increasingly shaky ceasefire, with Moscow saying the situation was worsening and a senior insurgent warning that the truce “will not hold out”.
“And yet in the face of none of these atrocities has Russian Federation expressed outrage, nor has it demanded investigations, nor has it ever called for a Saturday night emergency consultation in the Security Council”, Power said.
“However, a Syrian army unit is still inside the airbase”.
Central Command said the location of Saturday’s airstrike was in an area that had been hit by the US-led coalition in the past.
All the warring parties are also sworn enemies of Islamic State, whose territory extends along the Euphrates valley from the Iraqi border, including around Deir al-Zor, up to land near Syria’s frontier with Turkey.
At the UN, Power said an investigation was underway.
The Syrian Foreign Ministry said it had sent an urgent message asking the UN Security Council to “condemn the United States aggression”, according to a report from Syria’s SANA official news agency. “If we determine that we did indeed strike Syrian military personnel, that was not our intention and we, of course, regret the loss of life”, she said.
The tension comes just over a week after a cease-fire in Syria had been announced by the two countries – and fewer than six days since that cease-fire went into effect.
It is hoped that the truce forged between the United States and Russian Federation will clear the way for negotiations about a political transition in Syria. Once the humanitarian relief was in, the Russians and Americans were meant to agree on targeting jihadist factions: Jabhat Fateh Al-Sham, the former al Qaeda affiliate in Syria, and ISIS.
Yet significant drama played out outside the meeting, as both Samantha Power, the USA ambassador to the United Nations, and Russian diplomat Vitaly Churkin delivered dueling statements to the press. However, aid convoys have been unable to enter rebel-held parts of the northern city of Aleppo – a key component of the deal.
Advertisement
But Washington has warned Russian Federation that unless aid is delivered to Aleppo, it will not move ahead with the formation of the joint coordination center.
