begin quote from:
Pentagon Warns Assad Regime to Avoid Action Near US and Allied Forces
| Wall Street Journal | - |
The
Pentagon warned the Syrian government Friday not to strike U.S. and
coalition personnel in Syria, a day after the regime carried out
airstrikes in an area near American special operations forces, prompting
the U.S.
Pentagon Warns Assad Regime to Avoid Action Near US and Allied Forces
ENLARGE
The Pentagon warned the Syrian government Friday not to strike U.S. and coalition personnel in Syria, a day after the regime carried out airstrikes in an area near American special operations forces, prompting the U.S. to scramble jets to protect them.
The U.S. jets arrived just as the two Syrian government Su-24 bombers were departing, according to Pentagon spokesman Capt. Jeff Davis, who said none of the U.S. forces on the ground were harmed.
The Syrian government bombers had been striking Kurdish positions near the city of Hasakah, where the U.S. has been backing Kurdish forces in the fight against Islamic State.
Thursday’s close call prompted the U.S.-led coalition to begin patrolling the airspace over Hasakah, and led to another incident Friday, in which two Syrian Su-24 bombers attempted to fly through the area but were met by coalition fighter jets, a U.S. defense official said. According to the official, the Syrian bombers departed without further incident. The official said the U.S. is closely monitoring airspace over areas with American forces.
ENLARGE
Capt. Davis said Thursday’s event marked one of the closest calls he
knew of between U.S. coalition forces in Syria and the military of
President Bashar al-Assad since the Syrian conflict began in 2011.
According to U.S. officials, the American forces were moved to a safer
position after the attack, but weren’t pulled entirely from the theater.
“We view instances that place coalition personnel at risk with the utmost seriousness, and we do have the inherent right of self-defense,” Capt. Davis said. He said the Syrian military would be “well-advised” not to interfere with U.S. forces or their coalition partners fighting Islamic State in the country.
The encounter highlights a longstanding risk of U.S. involvement in Syria: the prospect that a direct attack on U.S. forces by the Syrian government or its Russian allies could dramatically raise the stakes in the conflict for Washington and test the resolve of a White House with limited appetite for military intervention.
A direct clash between U.S. forces and Syria’s military would have led to unpredictable consequences, given Mr. Assad’s alliance with Iran and Russia. The U.S. is pinning its hopes for reducing violence on talks about a political agreement with Russia, Syria and international powers.
After learning of Thursday’s airstrikes, the Pentagon immediately
contacted the Russian Ministry of Defense through its established
“de-confliction” channel and said the U.S. would take any action
necessary to protect its forces.
“We did make clear that U.S. aircraft would defend troops on the ground if threatened,” Capt. Davis said. The U.S. didn’t contact the Syrian military or government directly or declare a no-fly area over the northeast Syrian city, he said.
Thursday’s close-call came just two months after another. In June, Russia bombed a secret base of operations for American and British special operations forces in southern Syria near the Jordanian border. The move came about 24 hours after a contingent of some 20 British soldiers left the facility.
In Syria’s north, the U.S. has sent a few hundred special operations forces onto the battlefield to assist Kurdish and Arab fighters in their campaign to retake territory from Islamic State. They recently notched a victory by wresting control of the city of Manbij.
Since the start of the Syrian conflict, the regime mostly has
avoided clashing with the country’s Kurdish minority and has gradually
withdrawn from majority-Kurdish areas in the northeast, enabling Kurds
backed by the U.S. to carve out a semiautonomous region there.
But in recent months, Syrian regime forces and the Kurds have clashed more frequently, as Mr. Assad fights to maintain a foothold throughout Syria and growing Kurdish power poses a threat to his regime. Still, Syrian airstrikes against the Kurds are almost unheard of. If the Syrian government continues to strike the Kurds, it would deliver a blow to the U.S.’s strongest partner in the fight against Islamic State in the country.
Control of Hasakah is divided between the Syrian regime and the Kurdish administration. The regime’s airstrikes there Thursday came after days of on-the-ground clashes between Kurdish police and regime forces. A U.S. defense official said the U.S. personnel were close enough to the Syrian government airstrikes Thursday to feel their impact, raising alarm bells in Washington.
Despite the U.S. warnings, Syrian government airstrikes continued Friday on Kurdish positions in Hasakah, according to the opposition monitoring group Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and the presidential adviser for the PYD, the political arm of the main Syrian Kurdish militia.
Still, the Observatory said “relative calm” had settled over Hasakah during the day on Friday, allowing civilians to flee to nearby areas, amid scattered gunfire in parts of the city, still divided between the Assad regime and the Kurdish administration. By nighttime, the Observatory said the violence in the city had returned.
Sihanouk Dibo, the PYD’s presidential adviser, welcomed the Pentagon’s call for the Syrian government to stop its strikes.“This is a positive step; and it [reflects] the strategic partnership between the sides opposing terrorism and despotism,” Mr. Dibo said. “It would be great if [the step is implemented] quickly.”
In a statement released to Syrian state news agency SANA, the Syrian army accused the Kurdish police in Hasakah of targeting its positions with artillery and committing a range of crimes. The army said the Kurdish police’s actions required Syrian government forces to respond by targeting the sources of gunfire and those responsible for the criminal acts.
Pentagon Warns Assad Regime to Avoid Action Near U.S. and Allied Forces
U.S. scrambled fighter jets after Syrian warplanes target area used by U.S. military personnel
ENLARGE
Syrian Kurdish civilians flee reported shelling in the northeastern governorate of Hasakah, toward the city of Qameshli.
Photo:
delil souleiman/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images
The U.S. jets arrived just as the two Syrian government Su-24 bombers were departing, according to Pentagon spokesman Capt. Jeff Davis, who said none of the U.S. forces on the ground were harmed.
The Syrian government bombers had been striking Kurdish positions near the city of Hasakah, where the U.S. has been backing Kurdish forces in the fight against Islamic State.
Thursday’s close call prompted the U.S.-led coalition to begin patrolling the airspace over Hasakah, and led to another incident Friday, in which two Syrian Su-24 bombers attempted to fly through the area but were met by coalition fighter jets, a U.S. defense official said. According to the official, the Syrian bombers departed without further incident. The official said the U.S. is closely monitoring airspace over areas with American forces.
ENLARGE
“We view instances that place coalition personnel at risk with the utmost seriousness, and we do have the inherent right of self-defense,” Capt. Davis said. He said the Syrian military would be “well-advised” not to interfere with U.S. forces or their coalition partners fighting Islamic State in the country.
The encounter highlights a longstanding risk of U.S. involvement in Syria: the prospect that a direct attack on U.S. forces by the Syrian government or its Russian allies could dramatically raise the stakes in the conflict for Washington and test the resolve of a White House with limited appetite for military intervention.
A direct clash between U.S. forces and Syria’s military would have led to unpredictable consequences, given Mr. Assad’s alliance with Iran and Russia. The U.S. is pinning its hopes for reducing violence on talks about a political agreement with Russia, Syria and international powers.
‘We did make clear that U.S. aircraft would defend troops on the ground if threatened’
“We did make clear that U.S. aircraft would defend troops on the ground if threatened,” Capt. Davis said. The U.S. didn’t contact the Syrian military or government directly or declare a no-fly area over the northeast Syrian city, he said.
Thursday’s close-call came just two months after another. In June, Russia bombed a secret base of operations for American and British special operations forces in southern Syria near the Jordanian border. The move came about 24 hours after a contingent of some 20 British soldiers left the facility.
In Syria’s north, the U.S. has sent a few hundred special operations forces onto the battlefield to assist Kurdish and Arab fighters in their campaign to retake territory from Islamic State. They recently notched a victory by wresting control of the city of Manbij.
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But in recent months, Syrian regime forces and the Kurds have clashed more frequently, as Mr. Assad fights to maintain a foothold throughout Syria and growing Kurdish power poses a threat to his regime. Still, Syrian airstrikes against the Kurds are almost unheard of. If the Syrian government continues to strike the Kurds, it would deliver a blow to the U.S.’s strongest partner in the fight against Islamic State in the country.
Control of Hasakah is divided between the Syrian regime and the Kurdish administration. The regime’s airstrikes there Thursday came after days of on-the-ground clashes between Kurdish police and regime forces. A U.S. defense official said the U.S. personnel were close enough to the Syrian government airstrikes Thursday to feel their impact, raising alarm bells in Washington.
Despite the U.S. warnings, Syrian government airstrikes continued Friday on Kurdish positions in Hasakah, according to the opposition monitoring group Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and the presidential adviser for the PYD, the political arm of the main Syrian Kurdish militia.
Still, the Observatory said “relative calm” had settled over Hasakah during the day on Friday, allowing civilians to flee to nearby areas, amid scattered gunfire in parts of the city, still divided between the Assad regime and the Kurdish administration. By nighttime, the Observatory said the violence in the city had returned.
Sihanouk Dibo, the PYD’s presidential adviser, welcomed the Pentagon’s call for the Syrian government to stop its strikes.“This is a positive step; and it [reflects] the strategic partnership between the sides opposing terrorism and despotism,” Mr. Dibo said. “It would be great if [the step is implemented] quickly.”
In a statement released to Syrian state news agency SANA, the Syrian army accused the Kurdish police in Hasakah of targeting its positions with artillery and committing a range of crimes. The army said the Kurdish police’s actions required Syrian government forces to respond by targeting the sources of gunfire and those responsible for the criminal acts.
—Raja Abdulrahim contributed to this article.
Write to Paul Sonne at paul.sonne@wsj.com 
