JUST IN: Russian contractors may have been involved in pro-regime attack on US military advisers and their partner forces in Syria that led to US counterattack with aircraft and artillery in east of Euphrates. No US wounded.— Barbara Starr (@barbarastarrcnn) February 7, 2018
The Drive: Russian Operatives Possibly Among Assad Regime Elements Targeted In US Counterattack
The US-backed coalition responded with air or artillery strikes to drive attackers away from one of its forward bases in the country.
The U.S. military says members of the American-backed coalition fighting ISIS in Syria, most likely U.S. special operation forces, and their local partners have come under attack in Eastern Syria from forces allied with the country's dictator Bashar Al Assad. Details remain thin, but the United States is reportedly investigating whether Russian mercenaries or Iranian militias may have been involved in the incident.
On Feb. 7, 2018, U.S. Central Command, which oversees American military operations in the Middle East and Central Asia, announced the attack in Syria's Middle Euphrates River Valley had occurred in a brief and vaguely worded statement. The release described the attack as "unprovoked" and directed at a Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) headquarters located nearly five miles east of a formal, but dubiously effective "de-confliction" line that the United States and Russia have agreed to in Syria to separate the two countries' activities. The enemy force reportedly included artillery and other heavy weapons and had to cross the Euphrates River with that equipment.
Read more ....
WNU Editor: I have doubts that this was a U.S. - Russian military clash. Russian contractors and military forces have stayed clear from U.S. forces since the beginning of the U.S. intervention in Syria. They know too well that any attack would only result in a quick and massive U.S. response.
Update: More details on this attack .... More than 100 pro-Syrian forces killed after thwarted attack: U.S. official (Reuters).
