US in dark over Syria attack

WASHINGTON: The US is still unsure who directed a February7 attack on US and US-backed forces in Syria, Defence Secretary Jim Mattis said on Saturday.

About 300 men working for a Kremlin-linked Russian private military firm were either killed or injured in Syria.

The US has estimated that about 100 pro-Syrian government forces were killed by US strikes to repel the attack.

Russian military told the US during the incident that Moscow was not involved.

The Pentagon has declined to comment on the make-up of the attacking forces and Mattis appeared at a loss to explain the incident 10 days later.

“I still cannot give you any more information on why they would do this. But they took direction from someone,” Mattis told reporters flying back to Washington with him from a trip to Europe.

Russian officials have told reporters that five Russian citizens may have been killed in clashes with coalition forces.

Still, Russian officials deny they use private military contractors in Syria, saying Moscow’s only military presence is a campaign of air strikes, a naval base, military instructors training Syrian forces, and limited numbers of special forces troops. But according to people familiar with the deployment, Russia is using large numbers of the contractors because that allows Moscow to put more boots on the ground without risking regular soldiers whose deaths have to be accounted for.

The US and Russia, while backing opposite sides in the Syria conflict, have taken pains to make sure that their forces do not collide. But the presence of the Russian contractors adds an element of unpredictability.

The US military has said that in its effort to repel the attack on February 7, US forces on the ground called in coalition strikes for more than three hours.

The US military has said the attacking forces were aligned with the Syrian government and were backed by artillery, tanks, rockets and mortars. – Reuters