Dozens dead in US-led coalition strike on Syrian army position

DAMASCUS: US-led coalition aircraft hit a Syrian army position in the country's east on Saturday, an armed forces statement said, while a monitor group reported dozens of soldiers dead.

"Warplanes from the American coalition hit one of the Syrian army's positions... near the Deir Ezzor airport," the statement carried by state media said.

It said the raid was carried out at 5:00pm local time (1400 GMT) and led to an unspecified number of "casualties".

Regime ally Russia said 62 Syrian soldiers were killed and at least 100 more wounded in strikes by "warplanes from the international anti-extremist coalition".



The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said at least 80 soldiers were killed in the raids on Jabal Therdeh, southwest of the Deir Ezzor airport, updating an earlier toll of 30 killed.

Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman said he could not specify who carried out the strikes.

Syria's army has been fighting off a fierce offensive by the Islamic State group on the Deir Ezzor military airport since last year.

"This is a dangerous and bold attack against the Syrian state and army, and clear evidence that the United States and its allies support the terrorist group Daesh," the statement said, using an Arabic acronym for IS.



It said the raids had allowed IS to advance on Syrian troops in the area.

The IS-linked Amaq news agency said late Saturday IS extremists were able to "seize full control of Jabal Therdeh, which overlooks the Deir Ezzor airport".

A Syrian military source also told AFP that US-led coalition strikes hit an army position in Jabal Therdeh.

Under a fragile truce deal negotiated by the United States and Russia, fighting in Syria is to halt on all fronts across the country except those held by IS.

The US-led coalition has been carrying out raids against IS for two years in both Syria and Iraq.



US military confirms coalition's Syria air strike halted

The US military said on Saturday coalition forces had halted an air strike south of Deir-al-Zor, Syria, on Saturday after Russian officials said the targeted personnel and vehicles may have been part of the Syrian military.

The strike was in an area the coalition had attacked in the past, and coalition members had informed their Russian counterparts before it began, the US military's Central Command said in a statement.

UN Security Council to meet

The United Nations Security Council will meet on Saturday at the request of Russia, diplomats said, to discuss the air strikes.

The 15-member body is due to meet behind closed doors at 7:30 p.m. ET, diplomats said.

Russia and a war monitoring group said coalition jets bombed a Syrian army position near Deir al-Zor airport on Saturday, killing dozens of Syrian soldiers.

In a statement carried on Syria's state-owned media, Syria's foreign ministry called for the Security Council to condemn what it described as US aggression and require Washington to respect Syrian sovereignty.

Such a move is unlikely as statements by the council have to be agreed by consensus.