The US military coalition relayed its regret for “unintentional loss of life” after they killed a huge number of Syrian soldiers who they believed were IS fighters. In fact the Syrian soldiers were themselves battling the savage terrorist group. At least 62 were killed with claims the true number is actually far higher.
US Central Command issued a statement that they have discussed the broad location of the strike with Russian counterparts, before they launched their deadly raid.
The statement said: “The coalition airstrike was halted immediately when coalition officials were informed by Russian officials that it was possible the personnel and vehicles targeted were part of the Syrian military.
There is a currently a shaky truce in the war torn country but that truce does not extend to action against outlawed groups, such as IS.
This horrific case of mistaken identity occurred in the city of Deir Ezzor, which is mainly under the control of IS.
Russian news agency, Sputnik, said that IS fighters launched a raid on the position that had been attacked and managed to gain some ground, however Syrian state-run news agency SANA said that Government troops were able to take it back fairly quickly using reinforcements.
It is hoped that this incident will not see an end to the ceasefire from this brutal civil war. It is thought that well over 400,000 people have been killed since it began in 2011. Russian and US military are trying to coordinate, to some degree, their plans for sanctioned military action, but as this incident proves, it is not fool proof.
Russia has laid the blame squarely at the US, claiming that they did not share enough information to ensure this tragedy didn’t happen.
A spokesman from the Russian Defence Ministry told Sputnik: “If this airstrike was carried out due to an error in the coordinates of the target, it is a direct consequence of (the) US side’s unwillingness to coordinate its actions against terrorist groups with Russia.”
If the US and Russia can’t manage to work together then the likelihood is that the Syrian civil war and the war against IS will continue to drag on, with more loss of life, in a country that has seen enough bloodshed for one lifetime.
(Featured image not from this attack)
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