Damascus has proof US talked to ISIS militants ahead of airstrike on Syrian forces – lawmaker
Damascus has a recording of conversations between the American military and Islamic State terrorists ahead of the US-led coalition airstrike that hit Syrian troops near Deir ez-Zor on September 17, the speaker of the People's Council of Syria said.
“The Syrian Army intercepted the communications between the Americans and Daesh [Arabic pejorative for Islamic State/IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL] ahead of the attack on Deir ez-Zor," Hadiya Khalaf Abbas said, as cited by Sputnik Arabic.
According to the People's Council speaker, the Syrian authorities have evidence that the US-led coalition’s airstrike was a deliberate act.
Abbas promised that details of the recording will be released by Damascus.
Syrian troops encircled by Islamic State militants near the town of Deir ez-Zor were bombed by US-led coalition warplanes on September 17.
Sixty-two soldiers were killed and over 100 injured in the airstrike, which was immediately followed by an offensive by jihadists on the positions of government forces.
The bombing was stopped only after the Russian military contacted the US side several times, saying that they were attacking the wrong targets.
Washington acknowledged the fact of the airstrike against the Syrian troops and even apologized for the mistake.
The incident dealt a serious blow to the Syrian ceasefire deal, which Moscow and Washington agreed earlier in September.
During his speech at the UN General Assembly during the weekend, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem also said that the bombing of Syrian troops by the US-led coalition was a deliberate attack, not a mistake as Washington claims.
READ MORE: US airstrikes on Syrian troops were ‘intentional,’ lasted nearly 1 hour – Assad to AP
"The Syrian government puts all the responsibility for the aggression on the US, as the facts show that it was a deliberate attack, but not a mistake – even if America says the opposite,” Muallem said, adding that the bombing “proves that the US and its allies are accomplices of Islamic State and other terror groups.”
