Syrian regime confirms US-led coalition airstrike

By Abduljabbar Aburas

DAMASCUS

The Assad regime has confirmed that U.S.-led coalition warplanes on Thursday struck one of its military sites in southern Syria near the border with Jordan.

“The strike occurred at 16:30 p.m. local time Thursday, leaving several people dead and causing significant material damage,” the official Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) quoted a military source as saying on Friday.

Following Thursday’s airstrike, U.S. military officials announced that regime-allied forces -- which had "posed a threat to U.S. and partner forces" in Syria’s southeastern city of Al-Tanf -- had been targeted.

According to U.S. military commanders, the strike was carried out in response to the entry of regime-allied forces into a “de-escalation zone” in which U.S. and allied forces were operating.

At the time of the strike, pro-Assad forces “were advancing well inside” the de-escalation zone, the coalition said in a Thursday statement.

Coalition forces, it went on to assert, had been operating near Al-Tanf “for many months, training and advising vetted partner forces” engaged in the fight against the Daesh terrorist group.

By Abduljabbar Aburas

DAMASCUS

The Assad regime has confirmed that U.S.-led coalition warplanes on Thursday struck one of its military sites in southern Syria near the border with Jordan.

According to U.S. military commanders, the strike was carried out in response to the entry of regime-allied forces into a “de-escalation zone” in which U.S. and allied forces were operating.

At the time of the strike, pro-Assad forces “were advancing well inside” the de-escalation zone, the coalition said in a Thursday statement.

Coalition forces, it went on to assert, had been operating near Al-Tanf “for many months, training and advising vetted partner forces” engaged in the fight against the Daesh terrorist group.