Deir ez-Zor airport Syria
Deir ez-Zor airport, southeastern Syria
On September 17, the US-led coalition carried out a number of airstrikes against the Syrian army next to the city of Deir ez-Zor. Despite the White House's statements that the strikes had been made by mistake, more and more facts are emerging that indicate Washington's actions were intentional.

Locals told Inside Syria Media Center how the US prepared and carried out the operation in Deir ez-Zor. According to witnesses, just a couple of days before the bombing a drone appeared to observe the Syrian army positions and the maneuvers of ISIS the US allegedly intended to strike at.

Having analyzed the events, we can divide the American operation into three stages which envisaged deliberate bombings at the Syrian positions.

During the first strike lasting about an hour the first line of defense was attacked. The second stage saw defensive structures and heavy weaponry (three tanks, two IFVs, several guns and mortars) destroyed. Amid that, the US drones were killing wounded Syrian soldiers trying to flee the airstrike area.

As surviving government troops noted, just after the first strike, ISIS terrorists began their attack, rushing to take back positions they'd previously lost. Meanwhile, the NATO forces indifferently observed the militants' offensive as their drones circled above the area.

Besides that, a group of 40-50 militants, which was presumably moving towards ISIS as reinforcements, was spotted by al-Tin oil field.

The locals also noticed something else. ISIS terrorists didn't shoot at the Syrian helicopter above Deir ez-Zor while US-led planes were carrying out their strikes, leading them to suppose that the militants, acting in cooperation with the NATO forces, didn't open fire at that time for fear of shooting down a friendly plane.

It's evident that these new facts confirm the opinion, already quite popular in Syria, that the US and its allies were acting deliberately in their actions at Deir ez-Zor. This evil game of Washington undermines even the faintest hopes for peace in Syria.