Syria accused U.S.-led coalition aircraft of hitting a Syrian army position and killing three soldiers in an airstrike overnight Sunday, the first such allegation of its kind since the United States launched an air campaign against the Islamic State in Syria 14 months ago.
The U.S. military swiftly denied that coalition warplanes were operating in the area at the time, but the allegation nonetheless sent tensions soaring in Syria’s crowded skies
U.S. warplanes did conduct strikes in the eastern province of Deir al-Zour overnight, but the targets were 34 miles from the location that the Syrian government said was hit, according to Col. Steve Warren, the U.S. military spokesman for the campaign.
The Russian air force also carried out strikes in the province of Deir al-Zour overnight Sunday, Warren said, speaking from Baghdad. But he said but he did not know whether the Russians may have been responsible for the attack that allegedly struck the Syrian army position
At the same time, the Syrian opposition charged that an air raid carried out by Syrian government forces struck civilians in the Sukkari neighborhood of Syria’s northern city of Aleppo.
The Syrian government’s accusation illustrated the danger that misunderstandings or misinformation could trigger a wider conflict as Russia and the United States lead separate, rival air campaigns to combat the threat posed by the Islamic State.
Syria’s Foreign Ministry called the alleged attack an act of “heinous aggression.” The ministry said it sent letters of complaint to the U.N. secretary general and the U.N. Security Council urging the United Nations to take “urgent measures” to prevent such an incident from occurring again.
“The aggression on the military post hinders the efforts aiming to fight terrorism and reiterates that the U.S.-led coalition lacks seriousness and credibility in the fight against terrorism,” the Syrian Foreign Ministry statement said.
Four coalition warplanes struck a Syrian army post with nine rockets late Sunday, killing three soldiers and injuring 13, according to the statement. In addition, the strike destroyed three armored vehicles, four military vehicles, two heavy machine guns and a depot of arms and ammunition, it said.
In Moscow, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said he could not confirm the information provided by the Syrian government.
Most of the province of Deir al-Zour is controlled by the Islamic State, but the Syrian government has held onto a portion of the city of Deir al-Zour throughout the four-year-old war.
British warplanes last week joined French and American aircraft in conducting strikes against the Islamic State in eastern Syria. Russian warplanes have been striking targets across Syria since late September, alongside the Syrian air force, although the U.S. military says the Russian strikes mostly target opposition rebels and not the Islamic State.