© REUTERS/ U.S. Air Force/Senior Airman Matthew Bruch/Handout
US Air Force F-15E Strike Eagles are designed to conduct airstrikes in Syria and Iraq
A US defense official
told Sputnik that the US-led coalition struck the Syrian army near the town of At Tanf
in the area of an established safe zone backed by Russia, Iran and Turkey.
According to the media outlet, US officials explain the strikes as "force protection" for the US Special Forces based in the area. Reuters cited a US official as saying that the strikes occurred
after "warning shots by U.S. aircraft meant to disuade the [Syrian army's] fighters."
It is unclear yet whether the strikes have killed any Syrian soldiers or pro-government militia fighters as there has been no official comment from Damascus so far. The Pentagon has released no official statement as well.
According to a BuzzFeed News reporter, Syrian rebels based with the US Special Forces in the area said that militia supporting the Syrian army has been nearby as well.
"We notified the coalition that we were being attacked by the Syrian army and Iranians in this point and the coalition came and destroyed the advancing convoy," the Pentagon-backed rebel group called the Maghawir al Thwra told Reuters.
"A convoy going down the road
didn't respond to numerous ways for it to be warned off from getting too close to coalition forces in At-Tanf," an unnamed official told AFP.
On Monday, Al-Masdr News reported that Syrian Arab Army soldiers along and militias affiliated with the Iraqi Popular Mobilization Units are preparing to recapture the nearby Tanf Border crossing from Daesh.
Media reports suggested that Syrian rebels have voiced concerns over the Syrian army getting "too close" to the US Special Forces' base in At Tanf.
In April, Daesh terrorists attempted to take the US base near At Tanf in which three US-backed Syrian rebels were killed.
This was not the first time the US-led coalition intentionally or accidentally struck the Syrian army fighting against Daesh.
In the early hours of April 7, the
United States launched 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles at the Syrian military airfield in Ash Sha'irat, located about 40 kilometers (25 miles) from the city of Homs. US President Donald Trump said the attack was a response to the alleged use of chemical weapons in Syria's Idlib, which Washington blames on the Syrian government.
On September 17, 2016, US-led coalition aircraft carried out four strikes against the Syrian army near the Deir ez-Zor airport, killing 62 soldiers and wounding some 100. The Pentagon said that the airstrike was a mistake and was intended to target Daesh militants, while a number of Syrian officials stated that the attack was intentional. Later, the Pentagon released a report claiming that the US-led coalition's forces struck the Syrian army in Deir ez-Zor as a result of an "
unintentional, regrettable error."
Comment: See also:
US coalition jets strike Syrian government convoy in Southern Syria
Interesting timing, coming after this report, with commentary from
Russia Insider:
You thought US needed Syria's permission to set itself up in Syria? You had it wrong. It's actually Syria which requires American permission to retake its territory:
As we reported last week the Syrian army is making progress in the southern desert. It is edging eastwards towards the Iraqi border and towards joint US-rebel positions at al-Tanf border crossing.
The question is all the more acute now as it has become apparent the US believes Syria requires US permission to restore its territory. As The Telegraph reports:
The US has sent a clear message that any government advance towards their base will not be accepted. However, it is unclear how the special forces will react to any serious provocation.
As the
Telegraph report pointed out, this sets Assad's troops on "a collision course" with the U.S. and their proxies. We guess we now know what the U.S. response is to any "serious provocation". (Keep in mind that the presence of the U.S. forces is the actual provocation - they're there illegally!)
Update: RT
reports that the group attacked was a militia group allied with the SAA. The U.S. statement reads:
"This action was taken after apparent Russian attempts to dissuade Syrian pro-regime movement south towards At Tanf were unsuccessful, a coalition aircraft show of force, and the firing of warning shots," the statement said.
The Syrian forces allegedly entered a so-called "de-confliction" zone in the Homs Governorate, which was perceived as a threat to "US-allied troops." The militia forces allegedly clashed with the Pentagon-backed Maghawir Al-Thawra militant group (formerly known as New Syrian Army), which called in coalition air support.
"We notified the coalition that we were being attacked by the Syrian army and Iranians in this point and the coalition came and destroyed the advancing convoy," Reuters cited a militant representative as saying.
Apparently a tank and bulldozer were hit. Al-Masdar is reporting six killed, three injured. The U.S. says this incident does not represent a change in policy or an escalation, and that the de-confliction zone agreement remains in effect.
Head of the upper house's Defense and Security Committee Viktor Ozerov
told Sputnik: "I hope that this incident will not affect the Geneva negotiation process, but, conversely, will become the most important item on the agenda of the Geneva talks. There needs to be a clearer interaction between the coalition led by the US and the Syrian government forces."
US Central Command spokesman Josh Jacques
told Sputnik: "I believe there are casualties, but I don't have the full battle damage assessment for the engagement at this point. We are still conducting our assessment." He
told RT:
"If they were being used," a US Central Command spokesman told RT, casualties would be likely, but he said he is "not speculating."
CentCom spokesman Josh Jacques told RT that an assessment of Thursday's attack is being conducted, but that even when it is completed, there would not be an exact body count reported, because they don't have ground access.
Update (May 19): A Syrian source gave Sputnik their version of events from
on the ground:
The convoy itself was comprised of 5 T-62 main battle tanks, a ZSU-23-4 Shilka anti-aircraft weapon system and several four-wheel drive vehicles, crewed by a total of 50 troopers.
The coalition aircraft, flying at very low altitude, entered Syrian airspace from the direction of Jordan and after firing several warning shots launched a missile attack against the convoy, damaging two tanks and several vehicles.
The return fire from Shilka's four 23mm autocannons forced the attacking aircraft to rapidly gain altitude, thus becoming visible to the radars of the S-200 surface-to-air weapon systems of the 16th regiment based in al Damir. Having detected the retaliatory S-200 missile launches, the invading coalition aircraft quickly fled the Syrian airspace.
A total of six men were killed and three were injured during this attack.
SOHR says
eight were killed.
Syrian UN Ambassador Dr. Bashar al-Jaafari called the attack
terrorism:
The important thing is that our political ambition is higher because we want to focus on fighting terrorism represented by armed groups and the state and government terrorism happening against our country. This includes the American aggression, French aggression and British aggression.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov
called it "absolutely unacceptable":
Any military actions leading to the aggravation of the situation in Syria definitely affect the political process. Especially if such actions are committed against the Syrian armed forces... This is totally unacceptable; it is a violation of Syrian sovereignty. Of course, it does not help the political process.
Lavrov went a tad further:
"No matter what the reason for the decision of US command to strike such a blow, it is illegitimate, it is illegal, and it is another gross violation of the sovereignty of the Syrian Arab Republic," he told reporters.
Lavrov said that the US tried to justify the blow to Syria by saying that "these government forces created a threat to the opposition, which cooperates with the American military amidst the coalition that the Americans are heading."
The minister also said that, according to some reports, several dozen civilians were killed as a result of this strike. He clarified that now Moscow is checking all the details of what happened.
"We are very concerned that the overall understanding about the need to unite the efforts of all who really oppose the terrorists of IGIL * and the former "Jabhat-an-Nusra *" is unravelling," Lavrov said.
"All this, of course, is taking place against the backdrop of growing calls from Washington and a number of other Western capitals to stop all contact with Bashar Assad," the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry said, and he noted that "this is, in fact, indulging terrorists."
The Syrian Defense Ministry released a
statement:
"[On Thursday,] at 4:30 pm [local time; 1:30 pm GMT], the so-called coalition attacked a position of the Syrian Army on the al-Tanaf highway in the Syrian desert, which led to casualties and material loss," the Ministry said in the statement.
There can be no justification for the US coalition's strike on the Syrian Army positions, the Defense Ministry stressed, adding that the attack "shows the real goals" of the coalition.
"The Syrian Army is fighting against al-Nusra Front [former name of Jabhat Fatah al-Sham] and Daesh terrorist groups [both banned in Russia and multiple countries]... Those who claim to be fighting against terrorism must direct their strikes at the [groups], not at the only legitimate Syrian Army that is battling terrorism together with its allies and friends," the statement concluded.
According to Sputnik,
military contact between Russia and the U.S. is still up and running.
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