OOPS FRIENDLY FIRE

Russian fighter jets have attacked Bashar al-Assad’s troops

By Boyko Nikolov On Aug 27, 2021

DAMASCUS, ($1= 1,257.86 Syrian Pounds) – The Syrian news agency Massar Media Network, which was founded in 2012, issued a message on its Twitter account that Russian fighter jets had attacked the positions of the militias for the national defense of Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad. The airstrikes were by mistake, but there are Syrian soldiers killed and wounded. The incident happened in the Syrian province of Raqqa.

Military experts suggest the reason for the “wrong attack” is the lack of coordinated action between the Russian Air Force and Bashar al-Assad’s forces. It is alleged that Syrian Arab Army soldiers were misidentified by their Russian allies as members of the Islamic State.

According to a Russian expert, such a mistake is quite possible. Such mistakes have happened before, and not only with Russian participation. Speaking to a reporter for the Russian newspaper Aviapro, the expert said that Russia has the task of controlling, monitoring, and intelligence the situation in the desert regions of Syria. These are vast territories, and therefore any activity, especially if the actions are not coordinated with the Russian military command, leads to immediate attacks by space forces.

The Russian strikes were aimed at striking certain positions of Islamic State terrorists amid yesterday’s several deadly and devastating attacks in Kabul. Political analysts say Moscow has decided to anticipate a possible US response to terrorists in Syria.

Earlier, BulgarianMilitary.com reported that, according to Russian intelligence, at least four US bombers were flying to Afghanistan and the region, and were expected to strike not only in Afghanistan but also at Islamic State positions in Iraq and Syria. The US president has already issued an order to conduct an operation to detect and eliminate Islamic State terrorists.

The civil war in Syria

The Syrian civil war has been going on for almost a decade. Attempts by movements such as the Syrian Democratic Forces to overthrow Syrian President Bashar al-Assad have failed.

The Syrian democratic forces are armed by allies and the United States, while the Syrian army is armed mainly by Russia. Russia is the only country officially invited to Syria by President Bashar al-Assad.

In 2017, the United States launched a massive missile strike on Bashar al-Assad’s forces after a report emerged that the Syrian president had used chemical weapons to attack his people in the country. Syria and Russia deny such actions.

During his tenure, US President Donald Trump decided to withdraw much of US troops from Syria, leaving several troops to guard Syria’s oil fields on the pretext of “falling into the hands of Islamic State.”

With the withdrawal of the United States, Turkey comes to the fore, declaring it necessary to deal with the Kurds and the PKK movement in the northern part of the country, which borders Turkey. That is why Erdogan is sending troops in an attempt to build a stable and secure 30km zone between Syria and Turkey, which will prevent future terrorist attacks on Turkish territory, as it is.
Ceasefire

In February 2020, Turkey lost at least 62 troops killed in Syria. Nearly 100 soldiers were wounded, Syrian-backed forces destroyed dozens of Turkish armored vehicles, and more than ten drones, including drones, were shot down. Washington has repeatedly accused Moscow of involvement in the deaths of Turkish soldiers, Russia rejects these allegations.

In early March 2020, the presidents of Russia and Turkey, Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdogan, agreed that a ceasefire came into force in the Idlib de-escalation zone. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad later said that if the US and Turkish military did not leave the country, Damascus would use military power.

The reason for the Russian-Turkish negotiations was a sharp aggravation of the situation in Idlib, where in January, a large-scale offensive by the Syrian army against the positions of the armed opposition and terrorists began.

Government forces recaptured nearly half of the Idlib de-escalation zone and left behind several Turkish observation posts. After that, Ankara sharply increased its military contingent in the region and launched the operation “Spring Shield” to push the Syrian troops. Militants are loyal to Ankara and support Turkey.