Syrian Su-24 ground-attack aircraft bombed near U.S. and coalition special operations forces in Syria earlier this week, the Pentagon said Friday, forcing U.S. aircraft to scramble to the scene.
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The strikes targeted Kurdish forces in the northern Syrian city of Hassakeh on Thursday, said Marine Maj. Adrian Rankine-Galloway, a Pentagon spokesman. Coalition special operations forces, which have been advising Kurdish and Syrian Democratic Forces, were in the area, however none was injured. Social media reports indicated that several Kurds were killed in the bombing.
The airstrike drew sharp criticism from the Pentagon. Rankine-Galloway said that U.S. aircraft would defend coalition forces on the ground if need be and that Syrian forces "would be well advised not to interfere" with operations in the area.
U.S. aircraft responded to the scene as the Syrian aircraft were leaving. Rankine-Galloway said U.S. forces contacted their Russian counterparts through pre-established channels that ensure the two countries avoid any potential incidents in the region. When the Russians indicated that the planes bombing near the coalition forces were not theirs, the U.S. launched a "combat air patrol," Rankine-Galloway said. While he would not specify from where the U.S. aircraft launched, the United States maintains a contingent of F-15 fighter jets specifically designed for air-to-air combat at Incirlik Air Base in Turkey.
During the bombing, local forces on the ground attempted to contact the Syrian aircraft through an internationally recognized radio channel used to hail aircraft called a "guard" frequency, to no response.
The U.S. has since stepped up air patrols in the area to ensure coalition forces remain protected.
Scores of Hassakeh residents of the northeastern Syrian city of Hassakeh took advantage of a Friday lull in fighting between Kurdish forces and Syrian government troops to flee to safer areas nearby. Clashes broke out anew later on Friday, a Kurdish official said.
Nasser Haj Mansour of the predominantly Kurdish Syria Democratic Forces said Syrian government warplanes and helicopters launched more attacks on areas controlled by Kurdish fighters on Friday.
Later in the evening, the Syrian army said the main Kurdish militia had surrounded Hassakeh and bombarded it with artillery and tank fire, killing a number of soldiers and civilians and forcing troops to retaliate.
"The army command is determined to repel all these attacks," said an army statement, carried by the state Syrian Arab News Agency.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an activist group that tracks the conflict, said the fighting first began Wednesday. So far, 16 people, including six women and children, have been killed on the Kurdish side. Five pro-government gunmen of the National Defense Force were killed as well, the Observatory said.
Tucked in the northeastern corner of Syria, Hassakeh is seen primarily as Kurdish territory and has remained mostly quiet since major fighting ended there last year, making the strikes in the city all the more unusual. In the summer of 2015, Islamic State forces attempted to wrest the city from Kurdish and Syrian military forces but were eventually repelled.
Since then, there have been bouts of fighting between pro-Syrian government defense forces and Kurdish militias, though Syrian warplanes have avoided the city until recently. The contingent of local fighters stationed in and around Hassakeh are primarily made up of the Syrian Democratic Forces, an amalgamation of Kurdish and Arab forces and Kurdish Peoples Protection Units.
Last week, the Syria Democratic Forces captured the former Islamic State stronghold of Manbij in northern Syria under the cover airstrikes by the U.S.-led coalition.
U.S., British, and French special operations forces have been advising local forces fighting in northern and eastern Syria since late last year.
Also on Friday, the Russian military said two of its ships launched cruise missiles at militant targets in Syria from the eastern Mediterranean Sea. The development came after Russia this week began using Iranian territory to launch airstrikes in Syria, with Moscow's bombers flying out of the Islamic Republic for three straight days to hit targets in the war-ravaged country.
Russia's Defense Ministry said that the Serpukhov and the Zeleny Dol corvettes launched three long-range Kalibr cruise missiles on Friday at the al-Qaida-linked militant group of Jabhat Fatah al-Sham, formerly known as the Nusra Front. The ministry said that the missiles destroyed a command facility and a militant camp near Daret Azzeh along with a mine-making facility and a weapons facility in the province of Aleppo.
Russian warships have in the past launched cruise missiles at targets in Syria from both the Caspian Sea and the Mediterranean, a show of the navy's long-range precision strike capability. Cruise missiles launched from Russian navy ships in the Caspian in October and November struck targets in Syria, while in December a Russian submarine also launched cruise missiles at Syrian militants.
Information for this article was contributed by Thomas Gibbons-Neff of The Washington Post and by Bassem Mroue, Vladimir Isachenkov and Jamey Keaten of The Associated Press.
A Section on 08/20/2016