WASHINGTON — The U.S. scrambled jets Thursday to protect American special operators and their Kurdish allies after Syrian aircraft conducted airstrikes against Kurdish positions around a northern Syrian city, a Pentagon spokesman said.
The United States issued a stern warning to President Bashar Assad’s government after two of its SU-24 bombers conducted airstrikes on Hassakeh, which is controlled by Kurdish People’s Protection Unit forces, or YPG, said Navy Capt. Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman. The United States is allied with YPG in the fight against the Islamic State group.
“We will ensure [American and coalition troops’] safety, and the Syrian regime would be well advised not to do things that put them at risk,” Davis said Friday. “This is counterproductive and undermines the claims by Russia and the regime that they’re serious about combating terrorism in Syria.”
None of the U.S. or coalition troops were injured or otherwise impacted Thursday by the Syrian airstrikes, Davis said.
But the United States has the “inherent right” to protect its troops, Davis said. He added the coalition would take “whatever action is necessary to protect coalition forces on the ground.”
There are about 300 U.S. special operators and support troops on the ground in Syria, where they are serving as trainers and advisers for the local partner forces fighting the Islamic State group. The local partners, known as the Syrian Democratic Forces, are largely comprised of YPG fighters and the Syrian Arab Coalition.
Davis declined to say how close American troops were to the areas bombed. He said it is a Pentagon policy not to provide the specific location of U.S. troops in Syria.
Tensions have escalated between the YPG and pro-Assad forces around Hassakeh in recent days after clashes initially broke out Tuesday. At least 16 people have been killed in the fighting, including six women and children, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based activist organization.
It was not clear Friday whether any people were killed in the airstrikes.
The YPG have been among the most effective fighters the United States was worked with in its fight against the Islamic State group. Though there are no Islamic State fighters around Hassakeh, the YPG trains in the area, preparing for future operations against the terrorist group, including the upcoming attack of Raqqa.
It is not the first time Syrian forces and Kurdish forces have clashed around Hassakeh during the more than 5-year-old civil war in the country, but it appears to be a substantial escalation of Assad’s military actions against the Kurds.
“This is very unusual,” Davis said. “We’ve not seen the regime take this kind of action against the YPG before.”
Davis did not say whether the Pentagon has concerns that the fighting between the YPG and the Syrian regime could slow the progress that the Syrian Democratic Forces have made against the Islamic State group in recent months.