Outrage as report says US forces killed 200 Russians

THE fog of war sits heavily over the circumstances of a clash between US and Syrian forces last week.

Now the potential death of an unknown number of Russians in the intense battle threatens to further destabilise an already tumultuous situation.

Some unsubstantiated Russian social media sources are claiming a “massacre” of two mercenary fighting units.

One was reportedly wiped out, and the other “cut to pieces” by US firepower, killing up to 200 Russian nationals.

Russian news service Kom- somolskaya Pravda reports anonymous sources as saying: “They simply rolled us ... Artillery first, then helicopters .. Surely they saw that we were preparing for an assault on our beachhead on the left bank ... As a result, almost everyone from the 5th assault detachment died, they were burnt together with their hardware.”

At the heart of the scenario is an assault last week by some 500 pro-Syrian President Assad regime troops on an Deir al-Zor encampment of US-backed Syrian Democratic Force (SDF) rebels.

US Defence Secretary General James Mattis, pictured, said at the weekend he did not understand the circumstances behind the confusion – as wellestablished lines of communication and procedures had been used to prevent just such an incident.