Sunday 17 September 2017

US-Led Coalition Accuses Russia of Striking US-Backed Forces Near Deir ez-Zor

Jets strike U.S.-backed forces in eastern Syria


16 September, 2017

BEIRUT (Reuters) - U.S.-backed militias in Syria said they came under attack on Saturday from Russian jets and Syrian government forces in Deir al-Zor province, a flashpoint in an increasingly complex battlefield.

The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), an alliance of Kurdish and Arab militias fighting with the U.S.-led coalition, said six of its fighters were wounded in the strike.

The Pentagon said Russia bombed a position east of the Euphrates river where it knew SDF fighters and coalition advisers were stationed. The jets did not injure coalition forces, it said.

There was no immediate comment from Moscow or Damascus.

Washington and Moscow support separate offensives in the Syrian conflict, with both advancing against Islamic State militants in the eastern region that borders Iraq.

Our forces east of the Euphrates were hit with an attack from the Russian aircraft and Syrian regime forces, targeting our units in the industrial zone,” the SDF said in a statement.

The SDF accused Damascus of trying to obstruct its fighters. Such attacks “waste energies that should be used against terrorism ... and open the door to side conflicts,” it said.

The assaults by the Russian-backed Syrian army and the U.S.-backed SDF have at times raised fears of clashes that could stoke tensions between the competing world powers.



Both offensives have converged on Islamic State from opposite sides of the Euphrates river that bisects oil-rich Deir al-Zor, Islamic State’s last major foothold in Syria.

Syrian troops with Iran-backed militias have closed in from the west since last week, while the SDF advances from the east.

Russian and U.S. battles against Islamic State in Syria have mostly stayed out of each other’s way, with the Euphrates often acting as a dividing line. Talks have been under way to extend a formal demarcation line, officials have said.

The U.S. coalition has said the SDF does not plan to enter Deir al-Zor city, where Syrian soldiers have broken an Islamic State siege that lasted since 2014.

Still, in June, the SDF accused the Syrian military of bombing its positions in Raqqa province, and the United States shot down a government warplane in Syria’s crowded airspace.

ACROSS THE RIVER

Ahmed Abu Khawla, the commander of the SDF’s Deir al-Zor military council, said Russian or Syrian fighter jets flew in from government territory before dawn on Saturday.

The warplanes struck as the SDF waged “heated and bloody battles” in the industrial zone on the eastern bank, seizing factories from Islamic State militants, he said.

We have requested explanations from the Russian government,” he told Reuters. “We have asked for explanations from the coalition ... and necessary action to stop these jets.”

The air raid came a day after Khawla said his fighters would not let Syrian government forces cross the Euphrates. On Friday, he warned the army and its allies against firing across the river, which he said they had done in recent days.

The Russian foreign ministry said units of the Syrian army had already crossed.

A senior aide to President Bashar al-Assad said the government would fight any force, including the U.S.-backed fighters, to recapture the entire country.

I‘m not saying this will happen tomorrow ... but this is the strategic intent,” Bouthaina Shaaban said in a TV interview.

Syrian troops and allied forces captured villages on the western bank of the Euphrates on Saturday, state media said.

Shi‘ite militias fighting with Damascus also launched attacks against Islamic State in the south of Deir al-Zor province along the border. Just over the frontier inside Iraq, the military said Iraqi armed forces dislodged Islamic State from the natural gas-rich Akashat region.

The “caliphate” that Islamic State said in 2014 it had established, spanning both countries, effectively collapsed in July when an Iraqi offensive captured the city of Mosul. In Syria, the militants have lost much of their headquarters in Raqqa to the SDF with the help of air strikes and special forces from the U.S.-led coalition.





U.S.-backed Syrian fighters say will not let government forces cross Euphrates

U.S.-backed Syrian militias will not let government forces cross the Euphrates River in their bid to recover eastern Syria, their commander said on Friday, but Russia said army units had already done so near the city of Deir al-Zor.

An aide to President Bashar al-Assad meanwhile said the government would fight any force, including U.S.-backed militias, in efforts to recapture the rest of the country.



SDF RELEASES STATEMENT ACCUSING SYRIAN, RUSSIAN WARPLANES OF AIRSTRIKES AGAINST US-BACKED FORES NEAR DEIR EZZOR

Donate
SDF Releases Statement Accusing Syrian, Russian Warplanes Of Airstrikes Against US-backed Fores Near Deir Ezzor



16 September, 2017

The US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) has released an official statement accusing Russian and Syrian warplanes of conducting airstrikes on the SDF near the industrial area north of Deir Ezzor city. The SDF also demanded “the attacking sides to stop these attacks that do not serve anybody but terrorism and terrorists.”

However, the SDF has not provided any photos or videos confirming their claims.
The pro-Kurdish/US media outlet AHNA provided an English version of the statement (source):

While SDF forces are achieving great victories against IS [ISIS] mercenaries in al-Raqqa and Deir ez-Zor [Deir Ezzor] and as terrorism reached their end, some parties are attempting to obstruct SDF progress, consuming the energies that must be used against terrorism in addition to threatening the area’s safety and stirring lateral conflicts aiming and aborting struggles against IS mercenaries.
On Saturday dawn (September 16, 2017) at 03:00, our forces in the eastern part of the Euphrates River were exposed to an attack by the Syrian and Russian regimes warplanes that targeted our forces in the Industrial City and in the result of the attack, 6 fighters got wounded with various wounds.
In addition, this area has been liberated from IS mercenaries, and clashes are still ongoing for purging it completely from IS.
We condemn this aggressive attack and demand the attacking sides to stop these attacks that do not serve anybody but terrorism and terrorists. We also assure that these attacks would not undermine our insistence to fight terrorism and our progress in the area would continue till all the area would be purged completely form IS mercenaries’ abomination.”

Besides the accusations, the statement confirms that the SDF has not reached the western bank of the Euhprates River so far and is still struggling in the industrial area north of Deir Ezzor.


However, if the airstrikes really were conducted (by Russian and or Syrian warplanes), this was a clear signal to the SDF and the US-led coalition.
Probably, the SDF has not expected that the Syrian-Iranian-Russian alliance could implement the same strategy that the US-led coalition has implemented to stop the Syrian Army advance towards At Tand at the Syrian-Iraqi border.


US-Led Coalition Accuses Russia of Striking US-Backed Forces Near Deir ez-Zor
Following the reports of six SDF fighters injured in an air strike in Syria Pentagon blames Russian air forces.


16 September, 2017

MOSCOW (Sputnik) —The US-led coalition fighting against Daesh terrorist group in Syria has accused Russia on Saturday of attacking the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) near the Syrian city of Deir ez-Zor.

Pentagon claimed that when Russia bombed a target near Deir ez-Zor it knew that the SDF units and coalition advisers were there.

"At approximately 12:30 a.m. GMT Sept. 16, Russian forces struck a target east of the Euphrates River in Syria near Dayr Az Zawr, causing injuries to Coalition partner forces. Russian munitions impacted a location known to the Russians to contain Syrian Democratic Forces and Coalition advisors. Several SDF fighters were wounded and received medical care as a result of the strike. Multinational Coalition troops advising and assisting the SDF were present but not wounded as a result of the Russian strike," the statement read.

Earlier in the day, a Kurdish source told Sputnik that at least six Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighters were injured in a Syrian air force attack in eastern Syria.

Russia Fighting Terrorists in Syria Not to Secure a Foothold in Region - Envoy
The Russian Armed Forces have not provided any comments yet.
Member of the Russian upper house defense and security committee Alexey Pushkov said that Pentagon should remember its own airstrikes on the Syrian army and arms supplies to jihadists before accusing Russia of attacking the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

Before accusing Russia [of attacking the SDF], the Pentagon should remember how [the United States] bombed positions of the Syrian army and supplied jihadists with arms worth of $2.5 billion,” Pushkov wrote on his Twitter page on Saturday.

Moscow has repeatedly claimed that decisions about the airstrikes in Syria are made only after thorough verification of the intelligence data. Since the start of the Russian aerial campaign the West has been accusing Moscow of targeting so-called moderate opposition factions in Syria and civilians. Russia and Syria have continuously refuted these allegations.

The SDF is an alliance of Arab and Kurdish militias backed by the US-led coalition. The SDF units began their own operation against the Islamic State terrorist group in the Syrian province of Deir ez-Zor, where the Syrian government forces are already conducting a successful operation with the support of the Russian combat planes. In November 2016, the SDF launched an Operation Euphrates Rage to retake Raqqa, located west of Deir ez-Zor, from Daesh with the support of the US-led international coalition.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.