KABUL: (MEP) US-led coalition warplanes have inflicted a missile strike on a camp of Syrian regular troops in the Deir ez Zor province, killing three soldiers.
Damascus has slammed the incident as an “act of aggression.” This is the first time coalition planes have hit Syrian troops.
The Syrian government has confirmed that there are three casualties and 13 personnel injured, as well as a number of military vehicles destroyed.
The coalition jets fired nine missiles at an army camp in the Deir ez Zor province, which remains mostly under the control of Islamic State.
The incident is the first of its kind since the coalition started to bomb Syrian territory more than a year ago.
Meanwhile, the Syrian Foreign Ministry has filed an official protest with the UN Security Council regarding the US-led coalition’s airstrikes on Syrian troops, Syria’s SANA official news agency reported Monday.
“Syria strongly condemns the act of aggression by the US-led coalition that contradicts the UN Charter on goals and principles. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has sent letters to the UN Secretary General and the UN Security Council,” SANA quoted the foreign ministry as saying.
The US-led coalition denies its planes carried out the airstrike on the Saeqa military camp, claiming the only airstrikes in the area were delivered some 55km away from the place.
“We’ve seen those Syrian reports but we did not conduct any strikes in that part of Deir Ezzor yesterday. So we see no evidence,” coalition spokesman Colonel Steve Warren said.
The Deir ez Zor province is eastern Syria, and is largely controlled by Islamic State (formerly ISIS/ISIL). The region is of extreme strategic importance to the terrorist group, as it contains a number of oilfields, which are a major source of revenue for ISIS.
