Thursday, February 08, 2018

Syrian State TV Confirms US Attack Against Government Forces Fighting Daesh
Thu Feb 8, 2018 09:37AM
presstv.ir

Pro-government forces ride on a tank in the Syrian border town of Albu Kamal, on November 20, 2017. (Photo by AFP)

Syrian state media have slammed as an act of aggression the recent US-led aerial assault against the pro-government forces operating in the eastern province of Dayr al-Zawr, saying the strike was aimed at promoting terrorists.

“International coalition forces are bombing popular forces fighting Daesh and the SDF (Syrian Democratic Forces) east of the Euphrates River and there are reports of casualties,” the Syrian TV report added.

The report described the attack as “a new aggression and in an attempt to support terrorism.”

Earlier in the day, Russian lawmaker Franz Klintsevich also denounced the attack as an illegal act of aggression.

“The actions of the US coalition do not comply with legal norms, beyond all doubt it is aggression,” Interfax news agency quoted him as saying.

On Wednesday, the US-led alliance said it carried out air strikes against pro-government forces after they launched an “unprovoked attack” on the headquarters of the US-backed SDF.

The statement also claimed that the US-led attack was “in self-defense.”

Reuters later cited a US official as saying on condition of anonymity that over 100 pro-government forces had been killed in the assault.

The US has around 2,000 military personnel in northern Syria supporting the SDF, which is an alliance of militias in northern and eastern Syria and largely dominated by the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG).

The US and its allies have been bombarding what they call Daesh positions inside Syria since September 2014 without any authorization from the Damascus government or a UN mandate.

The strikes, however, have on many occasions resulted in civilian casualties and failed to fulfill their declared aim of countering terrorism.

The Syrian Foreign Ministry has on several occasions written to the UN, complaining that the US is flagrantly violating the sovereignty of Syria by targeting residential neighborhoods.

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