Russian anger after US-led coalition in Syria strikes pro-Assad fighters

By Nathan Morley

The overnight air strikes were confirmed by Syria's state-run radio network, which reported dozens of people were killed and many others left wounded.

According to Reuters, an unnamed American military official said the strikes killed around 100 people in the Deir el-Zour region.

The report said the action was sanctioned in self-defence after several hundred attackers launched a ‘coordinated assault’ on the Syrian Democratic Forces – a US backed outfit. American personal were said to be in tow.

In Damascus, the official SANA news agency said the local fighters were battling militants from the so-called Islamic State and the U.S.-backed SDF in the area.

The agency described the strikes as being an act of “aggression.” The Russian Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov, called it “another violation of Syria’s sovereignty by the United States”.

Meanwhile, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, will hold the next Syria summit between Turkey, Russia and Iran in Istanbul.

During a phone conversation on Thursday, the two leaders discussed the Syrian crisis, which has seen an upsurge in violence recently.

Separately, the Syrian Defence Ministry said their air force had destroyed a flurry of Israeli missiles targeting a military position in the countryside of the capital Damascus early Wednesday.