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list of 4 itemsPro-Iranian forces in Syria warn US of response to air strikes
Iran, Syria condemn US attacks on Iran-linked facilities
Israel conducts air attacks near Damascus: Syria state media
US Syria bill could lead to invasion
Russia protests over ‘provocative actions’ by US forces in Syria
“The extension of the George HW Bush Carrier Strike Group, inclusive of the USS Leyte Gulf, the USS Delbert D. Black, and the USNS Arctic, allows options to potentially bolster the capabilities of CENTCOM to respond to a range of contingencies in the Middle East,” US Central Command (CENTCOM) spokesperson Colonel Joe Buccino said in a statement.
News of the extended deployment first emerged a day after the Pentagon doubled its number of US troops wounded in the drone attack in Syria to 12.
The Pentagon estimated that eight people were killed during the retaliatory US air attacks against targets it claimed had links to Iran.
Both the Iranian and Syrian foreign ministries slammed the US air attacks that Washington said had targeted the strategic region of Deir ez-Zor bordering Iraq.
In a statement last week, Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanani said the US “terrorist” attacks hit civilian targets and constituted a violation of international law and Syrian sovereignty.
“The US claims that it is present in Syria to fight Daesh [ISIL] that itself had a major role in creating is just an excuse to continue its occupation and loot Syria’s national wealth, including its energy resources and wheat,” he said.
Kanani also said Iran only has military advisers on the ground in Syria at the request of its government.
The Syrian foreign ministry criticised the “brutal” US attacks that it said killed several people and amounted to a violation of its territorial integrity and promised to “end the American occupation”.
The White House has said the attacks on its forces would not force a pullback of the US from Syria.
Russian rear Admiral Oleg Gurinov said the protest was made to the US-led coalition in Syria over actions by US troops.
Russian forces in Syria have protested over what Moscow described as “provocative actions” by United States forces also deployed in the country, Russia’s state news agency TASS has reported.
TASS cited a senior Russian military official on Friday saying that “provocative” incidents had occurred in Syria’s northeastern province of Hassakeh where US forces have been deployed for several years, leading a coalition of local Kurdish troops battling against ISIL (ISIS) and its remnants.
“Provocative actions on the part of US armed forces units have been noted in Hassakeh province … the Russian side lodged a protest with the coalition,” Russian Rear Admiral Oleg Gurinov, head of the Russian Centre for Reconciliation of the Opposing Parties in Syria, told TASS.
Gurnivo said US troops had twice been spotted by Russian forces in areas that lay outside their agreed zones of operation, without giving details of timing.
“During joint Russian-Turkish patrols, the movement of two patrols conducted by the so-called anti-terrorist coalition were tracked along the non-deconfliction routes near Deiruna-Aga and Saramsak. The Russian side has protested to the coalition,” Gurinov said, according to TASS.
Russia – which together with Turkey is carrying out joint patrols in northern Syria – has agreed on special zones where the US-led coalition can operate as it takes on hundreds of ISIL fighters camped in desolate areas of Syria where neither the coalition nor the Syrian army exerts full control.
The US-led coalition has been engaged in Syria for almost eight years while Russia intervened in the Syrian Civil War in 2015, tipping the balance in President Bashar Al-Assad’s favour. Moscow has since expanded its military facilities in Syria with a permanent air and naval base.
Last week, the US carried out multiple air attacks in Syria against what it said were Iran-aligned armed groups, which the Pentagon blamed for a previous drone attack. US officials said the attack by the armed group killed a US military contractor, injured another, and wounded about a dozen US soldiers at a coalition base in the northeast of the country near Hassakeh city.
Pro-Iranian forces in Syria warned in an online statement signed by the Iranian Advisory Committee in Syria that they would respond to the US air strikes on their positions.
US military officials announced on Friday that the deployment of the George H W Bush carrier strike group would be extended after the drone by the Iranian-backed groups.
The decision likely means that the US strike group and its more than
5,000 US personnel, which are currently in the European Command
operational area, will not be returning to the home port as scheduled. . .
“The extension of the George HW Bush Carrier Strike Group, inclusive of the USS Leyte Gulf, the USS Delbert D. Black, and the USNS Arctic, allows options to potentially bolster the capabilities of CENTCOM to respond to a range of contingencies in the Middle East,” US Central Command (CENTCOM) spokesperson Colonel Joe Buccino said in a statement.
News of the extended deployment first emerged a day after the Pentagon doubled its number of US troops wounded in the drone attack in Syria to 12.
The Pentagon estimated that eight people were killed during the retaliatory US air attacks against targets it claimed had links to Iran.
Both the Iranian and Syrian foreign ministries slammed the US air attacks that Washington said had targeted the strategic region of Deir ez-Zor bordering Iraq.
In a statement last week, Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanani said the US “terrorist” attacks hit civilian targets and constituted a violation of international law and Syrian sovereignty.
“The US claims that it is present in Syria to fight Daesh [ISIL] that itself had a major role in creating is just an excuse to continue its occupation and loot Syria’s national wealth, including its energy resources and wheat,” he said.
Kanani also said Iran only has military advisers on the ground in Syria at the request of its government.
The Syrian foreign ministry criticised the “brutal” US attacks that it said killed several people and amounted to a violation of its territorial integrity and promised to “end the American occupation”.
The White House has said the attacks on its forces would not force a pullback of the US from Syria."
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Russian jets have flown over U.S. base in Syria nearly every day in March
Lt. Gen. Alexus Grynkewich told NBC News that Russian jets have violated the airspace of At Tanf Garrison roughly 25 times this month, including Wednesday.
Armed Russian jets have flown over a U.S. military garrison in Syria nearly every day in March, violating a 4-year-old agreement between the U.S. and Russia and risking escalation, according to the U.S. general in charge of air operations in the region.
Lt. Gen. Alexus Grynkewich, combined forces air component commander for U.S. Central Command, told NBC News on Wednesday that the most recent Russian overflight of At Tanf Garrison (ATG) happened just a few hours earlier, and that Russian jets have violated the airspace roughly 25 times so far this month, compared to zero times in February and 14 in January.
“It is a substantial increase,” he said, explaining that at this rate they are “on track to be double what it has been in the past.”
“They’re regularly flying directly overhead of our units, and I’ve defined directly overhead, as within about a mile, no more than a mile offset one side or the other, while we’ve got forces right there on the ground at ATG,” said Grynkewich. “So it’s an uncomfortable situation.”
The Russian aircraft include Su-34 jets. Some aircraft carry air-to-air weapons and others carrying air-to-ground munitions; weapons include radar-guided and heat-seeking missiles and bombs.
This disclosure comes in the wake of an incident over the Black Sea last week
in which two Russian Su-27 fighter jets flew aggressively around a U.S.
MQ-9 Reaper drone, dumping fuel on the drone and eventually colliding
with it, forcing the U.S. to down the drone in the water.
Syria Headlines
Russia protests about 'provocative actions' by U.S. forces in Syria
(Reuters) -Russia has protested to the American-led coalition against the Islamic State militant group about "provocative actions" by U.S. armed forces in Syria, Tass news agency said on Friday.
U.S. extends carrier deployment after Syria attack
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The United States has decided to extend the deployment of the George H.W. Bush carrier strike group to provide options to policymakers after last week's deadly attacks in Syria by Iran-backed forces, U.S. military officials said on Friday.
Israeli attack kills Iranian Guards officer in Syria, Iran says
DAMASCUS/DUBAI (Reuters) -An Israeli attack in Syria on Friday killed an officer in Iran's Revolutionary Guards, the Guards said, as the second strike near Damascus in two days pointed to intensifying Israeli efforts to counter Tehran's foothold in the country.
Six U.S. troops suffer traumatic brain injuries in Syria -Pentagon
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Six U.S. troops in Syria suffered traumatic brain injuries during two attacks last week by Iran-backed militants, the Pentagon said on Thursday, adding they were diagnosed during routine screenings in recent days.
Syria condemns Israeli strike that left two soldiers wounded
DAMASCUS (Reuters) -Syria's foreign ministry on Thursday condemned an overnight Israeli missile attack that hit near the capital Damascus, wounding two soldiers and causing material damage.
U.S. sanctions Syrian leader Assad's cousins, others over drug trade -Treasury
(Reuters) -The United States on Tuesday imposed new sanctions against six people, including two cousins of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, for their role in the production or export of captagon, a dangerous amphetamine, a Treasury Department statement said.
Moscow to host Syria, Turkey, Iran, Russia meeting - official sources
The deputy foreign ministers of Syria, Turkey, Iran and Russia will meet in April in Moscow, Turkish and Iranian officials said on Tuesday, building on contacts between Ankara and Damascus after years of hostilities during the Syrian war.
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