An airstrike believed to have been carried out by the US-led coalition hit a Syrian army post near a militant stronghold, killing four soldiers, a monitoring group said on Monday.
If confirmed, the strike would be the first against President Bashar al-Assad’s forces since the US-led air campaign started more than a year ago.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said a Syrian army post was hit Sunday in the village of Ayyash on the outskirts of the north-western province of Deir al-Zour.
The al-Assad regime controls most of the Deir al-Zour neighbourhoods along the western banks of the Euphrates, while the Islamic State extremist militia controls most of the centre of the oil-rich province.
“We know for sure that the strike was not launched by Russian planes because Moscow is an ally of al-Assad’s regime,” Observatory chief Rami Abdel-Rahman told newsmen.
Russia began its aerial campaign in Syria in September with the aim of targeting Islamic State and other radical groups.
In recent weeks, the US-led alliance and Russia have separately stepped up airstrikes on Islamic State-held areas in Syria in retaliation for deadly attacks claimed by the al-Qaeda splinter group in several parts of the world.
Major world powers have also intensified diplomatic efforts to reach a political solution to Syria’s conflict, now in its fifth year.
Saudi Arabia has said it would on Tuesday host a three-day meeting for moderate Syrian opposition groups aimed at unifying their ranks ahead of planned peace talks between representatives of the opposition and al-Assad’s government
(NAN)
