Damascus Accuses U.S. of War Crime After Coalition Airstrikes Kill Pro-Assad Forces

Damascus accused Washington on Thursday of committing a “war crime” in Syria after coalition airstrikes and artillery attacks killed scores of pro-government fighters in Deir Ezzor province, Reuters reported.

Pro-government forces had allegedly initiated “an unprovoked attack” against a Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) headquarters in Deir Ezzor province overnight, before United States airstrikes and artillery attacks thwarted their advances and killed at least 100 people, a U.S. official said.

Syrian state media confirmed the attack, saying “dozens” had been killed or wounded. An unidentified commander fighting in the military alliance supporting President Bashar al-Assad told Reuters that seven members of the pro-government forces had been killed and 27 injured.

“We demand [that the international community] condemn this massacre and hold the coalition responsible for it,” Syria’s foreign ministry said in a letter sent to the United Nations on Thursday, according to Reuters. Damascus also called on the U.N. to dismantle the coalition.

Meanwhile, Washington tried to ease tensions on Thursday, with Pentagon spokeswoman Dana White saying in a news briefing that the U.S. was not “looking for a conflict with the regime.”

U.S. defense secretary Jim Mattis also played down the coalition strikes by describing them as defensive and limited in nature, while dismissing claims that the U.S. was stumbling into a broader conflict in Syria, Reuters said.

More Than 70 Killed in East Ghouta

At least 75 people were killed in government airstrikes and artillery attacks on the Eastern Ghouta suburbs of Damascus on Thursday, Agence France-Presse reported.

The attacks on the besieged rebel enclave east of the capital are part of a fierce government offensive that has killed 228 civilians since Monday, AFP said, citing the United Kingdom-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

“These are the worst four days that Eastern Ghouta has ever gone through,” said Hamza, a doctor treating patients in the suburb of Arbin. “From 2011 until now, there has never been the level of bombardment we’ve seen in the last 96 hours.”

The drastic escalation in fighting has tightened the siege on some 400,000 people who are trapped in Eastern Ghouta with little access to food and medicine.

State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said on Thursday that the U.S. is supporting a U.N. call for a month-long “cessation of violence,” with the goal of allowing humanitarian aid and medical care to flow to more than 700 civilians in the besieged suburbs, according to the Associated Press.

Turkey Resumes Airstrikes on Afrin

Turkey resumed its airstrikes on a Kurdish enclave in northern Syria on Thursday after a brief pause in aerial attacks, the Associated Press reported on Friday.

Turkey was reported to have halted flights in recent days because Russia had closed the airspace over the Kurdish stronghold of Afrin. This came after militants in adjacent Idlib province downed a Russian fighter jet and killed the pilot on Feb. 3, the AP said, citing unconfirmed Turkish media reports.

But Turkey’s military said on Friday that its fighter jets bombed 19 targets belonging to “terrorists,” including shelters, ammunition depots and gun positions, according to the AP.

Meanwhile, Turkey’s state-run Anadolu news agency said Turkish jets on Thursday targeted parts of Afrin, including Mount Bafilun, the villages of Sheik Huruz and Kefer Jenne and the regions of Sheran, Jinderes and Raju, the AP reported.

Turkey launched “Operation Olive Branch” in Afrin three weeks ago, targeting the YPG Kurdish militia in Syria, which Ankara views as a terrorist group.

Recommended Reads:

• CNN: Deadly Battle With Syrian Regime Forces Complicates Trump’s Syria Strategy
• The Associated Press: Syrian Rebels Seek Relevance by Joining Turkey’s Offensive
• The New York Times: Far From Winding Down, Syria’s War Escalates on Multiple Fronts
• Reuters: Years Late, Syria’s Children of War Learn to Read and Write
• The New York Times: Why Is the Syrian War Still Raging?