Pentagon, Washington. In breaking news of interest to News Front viewers, we have just been informed of new US attacks in Syria that have killed an additional 18 people today.
An airstrike by US military aircraft in Syria mistakenly killed 18 soldiers from US backed “moderate ISIS” rebel forces battling the Assad regime, the military said Thursday.
“The strike was requested by the partnered forces, who had identified the target location as an ISIS fighting position,” US Central Command said in a statement, using an acronym for the Islamic State. “The target location was actually a forward Syrian Democratic Forces fighting position.”
The US military airstrike occurred Tuesday near Tabqah, where US backed Syrian Democratic Forces are engaged in a key battle against the Islamic State over a strategically important dam. Those troops are the main US backed force battling the Islamic State in Syria according to the Pentagon.
America’s military is supporting Syrian Democratic Forces with airstrikes, helicopter gunships and Marine artillery in the battle around Tabqah, which is part of an overall offensive to isolate and then clear Raqqa of the militants.
“The coalition is in close contact with our SDF partners who have expressed a strong desire to remain focused on the fight against ISIS despite this tragic incident,” the statement said. “The coalition is assessing the cause of the incident and will implement appropriate safeguards to prevent similar incidents in the future.”
The American “mistake” comes on the heels of US President Trump launching 59 Tomahawk missiles at a rural airfield at a cost of $93 million dollars and killing a number of Syrian soldiers and dependents, including children.