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Syria Says U.S.-Led Airstrikes Killed 3 Soldiers at Army Camp
Syria Accuses U.S. Coalition of Bombing Military Base
(about 2 hours later)
BEIRUT, Lebanon — The Syrian government on Monday accused the American-led coalition of launching airstrikes on an army camp in the eastern part of the country that killed three soldiers and wounded 13 others.
CAIRO — Syria on Monday accused a United States-led coalition of having bombed a Syrian military base in the east of the country with airstrikes that killed three soldiers, wounded at least 13 and destroyed vehicles and equipment.
United States military officials denied the claim, saying the alliance had carried out four airstrikes against oil wells in the province — all of them more than 30 miles from the site that Syria said had been hit.
The accusation, in a statement carried by the official Syrian news agency, was the first time that President Bashar al-Assad’s government had claimed the Americans were responsible for bombing a Syrian military facility since the United States began airstrikes against Islamic State targets in Syria more than a year ago.
The city of Deir al-Zour, where the Syrian government said the strikes took place on Sunday, is mainly held by the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL, but the Syrian government maintains a presence in some parts of it.
The statement said that the bombing had been conducted Sunday evening in Deir al-Zour Province, and that Syria had sent letters of protest to the United Nations calling the bombing “a heinous aggression by the coalition.”
The American-led coalition has been striking at Islamic targets in Syria for the past year. France and Britain have recently joined in and have carried out airstrikes of their own in Syria.
American military officials said the coalition had carried out airstrikes in the province on Sunday, but they denied the strikes had hit any Syrian military positions — and seemed anxious to avoid an escalation of tensions with Mr. Assad’s government.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an organization based in Britain that tracks the Syrian conflict through a network of activists on the ground, also reported the airstrikes and gave a death toll similar to the Syrian government.
A statement from the United States-led Combined Joint Task Force said that the coalition had conducted four airstrikes on Sunday, “all against oil well heads,” about 35 miles from the base. “We did not strike any vehicles or personnel targets in this area,” the statement said. “We have no indication any Syrian soldiers were even near our strikes.”
The planes hit the camp known as Sa’iqa, the observatory said, though it gave a slightly different account of its location, saying the camp was near the village of Ayyash in the countryside west of Deir al-Zour.
A United States defense official added: “We are not at war with the Assad regime, and have no reason to target the Syrian army.” The official, who was not authorized to brief the news media, spoke on the condition of anonymity.
If confirmed, the airstrikes would be the first time coalition forces fighting the Islamic State have hit Syrian government forces.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an independent monitoring group that tracks the conflict from Britain through a network of contacts on the ground, also reported on Monday that coalition airstrikes apparently had hit a Syrian military post on Sunday near Ayyash, in the western part of Deir al-Zour.
In a letter sent to the United Nations and published in Syrian state-run news media on Monday, the government in Damascus said four aircraft belonging to the coalition had targeted the army camp.
The United States has recently escalated its attacks in the province, with the stated aim of disrupting large oil fields controlled by the Islamic State, an important source of the group’s revenue. In addition to the United States, Britain and France have recently started conducting airstrikes against the Islamic State in Syria. Russia joined the war in September, fighting on the side of Mr. Assad’s government.
In addition to the casualties, the government said the strikes had destroyed armored and other vehicles and a weapons and ammunition depot.
Russian officials had no immediate comment on the Syrian government’s accusations against the American-led coalition. But Dmitri S. Peskov, the spokesman for President Vladimir V. Putin, reiterated what he called the need for a combined effort to vanquish extremist militants in Syria.
The Syrian letter said the attack “hampers efforts to combat terrorism and proves once again that this coalition lacks seriousness and credibility to effectively fight terrorism.”
“Both President Putin and Russian officials at various levels repeatedly emphasized our belief that an effective counteraction against these dangerous developments is only possible on the platform of a united coalition and an absolute coordination of any joint efforts,” Mr. Peskov said in comments reported by Russia’s Interfax news agency.
The Combined Joint Task Force, which coordinates coalition activities against the Islamic State, said in a statement that the alliance had carried out four airstrikes solely against the oil wells in Deir al-Zour Province, all of them at least 55 kilometers, or about 34 miles, southeast of Ayyash.
“We did not strike any vehicles or personnel targets in this area. We have no indication any Syrian soldiers were even near our strikes,” the statement said, adding that the task force took allegations of collateral damage seriously.
Lt. Col. Kristi Beckman, director of public affairs at the Combined Air Operations Center at Al Udeid air base in Qatar, said there was no indication that the coalition had killed Syrian troops.
“We’re aware of the incident, however at this time we don’t have any indication our strikes killed Syrian soldiers,” she said.
Since the end of September, Russian planes have also pounded the Islamic State and other insurgents in Syria fighting to topple President Bashar al-Assad.
On Sunday, airstrikes hit several Islamic State positions in its de facto capital of Raqqa in northern Syria, killing and wounding at least 32 militants according to several anti-Islamic State activists.
The Islamic State blamed Russia for the attacks and claimed civilians had been killed.
In Iraq, Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari, warned that a deadline for the withdrawal of additional Turkish forces from the northern part of the country would expire on Tuesday, after which Iraq would bring the matter before the United Nations Security Council.
Turkey says its troops had been stationed at a small base outside the city of Mosul since last year as part of a training mission coordinated with the Iraqi government. However, the arrival of additional Turkish forces on Friday prompted protests from Baghdad.
Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi of Iraq has repeatedly called for the forces to be withdrawn, while a number of other senior Iraqi politicians have called the move a violation of Iraq’s sovereignty.
Turkey announced on Sunday that additional deployments to Iraq would be halted until Baghdad’s “sensitivities are overcome.”
According to United States officials, the deployment was part of an agreement between Turkey and Iraq and did not involve the United States or the coalition. The officials said that the mission was to train and advise Iraqi forces in the effort to battle Islamic State militants and eventually take back Mosul.
