ERBIL, Kurdistan Region –Russian Defence Ministry denied the Wednesday US accusation that Russian or Syrian fighter jets bombed US backed-Syrian Arab Coalition near al-Bab, in northern Syria.
"To avoid any incidents, the US representative has provided exact coordinates of the US-backed opposition forces in the region to a Russian officer," the ministry said in a statement late Wednesday night, adding that the information was "taken into account" by the Russian military.
"Not a single air strike on the regions specified by the US side was conducted by Russian or Syrian air forces," the statement continued.
The defense ministry also said that it would continue to share with the US channels of communication in the fight against the ISIS group in Syria.
Earlier in the day, the top US commander for the war against the ISIS militants said claimed that Russian and Syrian fighter jets carried out airstrikes against the US-backed Syrian fighters "by mistake", resulting in a number of casualties.
Lt. Gen. Stephen Townsend, commander of the US-led international coalition against the ISIS group in Iraq and Syria, told reporters that the airstrikes happened on Tuesday when the US advisers were within 5 kilometers from the site of the incident near al Bab in northern Syria.
Gen. Townsend said they believe the airstrikes were conducted by mistake, and stopped when they contacted the Russian counterparts.
“We had some Russian aircraft and regime aircraft bomb some villages that I believe they thought were held by ISIS,” General Townsend said. “Actually on the ground were some of our Syrian Arab coalition forces.”
The casualties were among the Syrian Arab fighters, the US general said, in reference to the Arab components of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
The US-led coalition is providing air support, advice, training, and material to the Syrian Arab Coalition, one of the elements fighting within the ethnically diverse SDF.
“The SAC is made of about 23,000 fighters, 13,000 of which are vetted. These are the only ones we train and equip,” the press office of the coalition confirmed to Rudaw English by email in early February.
The SDF launched the operation to liberate Raqqa last November and they announced the third stage of the operation to isolate and eventually defeat ISIS in Raqqa in February.
There are also Turkey-backed Free Syrian Army (FSA), and the Syrian regime forces in the area.
Turkish troops and the FSA captured al-Bab from the ISIS militants last week in a months-long operation, while the Syrian regime forces took control of some villages and key areas close to the city.
The SDF-affiliated forces control the city of Manbij , some 45 km northeast of al-Bab, and where on Wednesday the US-backed Manbij Military Council claimed that the FSA, backed by Turkey, and ISIS simultaneously attacked their positions in a number of villages south and west of the city resulting in ongoing heavy clashes.
Gen. Townsend said that they urge all forces to remain focused on defeating the ISIS militants in both Iraq and Syria, instead of diverting resources to fight one another.
“We encourage all forces to remain focused on the counter-ISIS fight and concentrate their efforts on defeating ISIS, and not toward other objectives that may cause the coalition to divert energy and resources away from Raqqa.”
