Syria claims coalition jets struck military position in eastern country, US denies

Syrian state media on Monday claimed US-led coalition warplanes bombed one of the Syrian military’ positions in the east of the country, resulting in deaths and injuries, allegations promptly denied by the US military.

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Syrian state media on Monday claimed US-led coalition warplanes bombed one of the Syrian military’ positions in the east of the country, resulting in deaths and injuries, allegations promptly denied by the US military.

The strikes took place in al-Harra, southeast of Albu Kamal, Syrian state media asserted, citing a military source, but did not offer any details on the number of casualties and injuries.

Drones, “probably American,” targeted the positions of Iraqi factions between Albu Kamal and al-Tanf, as well as Syrian army positions, a military commander backing Syrian President Bashar al-Assad told Reuters.

An American official, however, denied any coalition member had carried out air strikes in the area.

“No member of the US-led coalition carried out strikes near Albu Kamal,” Major Josh Jacques, a US Central Command spokesman, told Reuters. 

The US-led coalition provides aerial and ground support to the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) battling the Islamic State (IS) in the eastern Syrian countryside, northeast of Albu Kamal.

Coalition forces, namely US troops, are also present in al-Tanf, southwest of Albu Kamal, in the Syrian desert near the border of Jordan and Iraq.

The Syrian army along with Iranian-backed militias, including Lebanon’s Hezbollah and Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), took control of Albu Kamal and its surrounding areas in 2017 but IS militants have since launched multiple attacks in attempts to regain the strategic territory. 

UK-based war monitor, the Syrian Observatory for Human rights, said the unidentified aircraft had targeted Hezbollah and other foreign Shia militias allied to the Syrian government near Albu Kamal.

The strikes killed 40 people, according to the monitor group.

Editing by Nadia Riva