THE war in Syria is entering a deadly new phase.

A three-hour battle between Syrian government backed troops and US-led Coalition forces has reportedly left more than 100 Syrian troops dead.

The Syrian forces reportedly had attempted a co-ordinated attack on a rebel headquarters involving 500 troops, Russian-made T-72 and T-55 tanks, howitzers and multiple-launch rocket systems.

US strike fighters, Hercules AC-130 fire-support aircraft, Apache helicopter gunships and Marine Corps heavy artillery all opened fire to defend the site situated in Deir al-Zor province, about eight kilometres east of the Euphrates River.

The river is an agreed demarcation line for Coalition and Russian and Syrian government areas of operation against Islamic State. The Coalition is responsible for the territory on its eastern banks, the Russian-Syrian forces to the west.

The attack was a clear breach of this agreement.

THREE-HOUR BATTLE

The largely Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) headquarters and training facility houses “embedded” US military advisers.

“Coalition service members in an advise, assist, and accompany capacity were co-located with SDF partners during the attack eight kilometres east of the agreed-upon Euphrates River de-confliction line,” an Operation Inherent Resolve statement reads.
It describes the attack as “unprovoked”.

Syrian government forces managed to advance to within 150m of the SDF compound, unofficial reports state.

But the intense US-led Coalition response routed the attack, killing more than 100 attacking troops in the process.

A Syrian government commander reportedly conceded seven dead and 27 injured. The largely Kurdish Syrian Democratic alliance claims just one of its fighters was injured.

“Along with ground based fire support, these aircraft released multiple precision fire munitions and conducted strafing runs against the aggressor force, stopping their advance and destroying multiple artillery pieces and tanks,” CENTCOM spokesman Lt Colonel Damien Pickart said.

Reuters reports an unnamed US official as saying Syrian forces were believed to have been attempting to capture valuable oilfields near Khusham.

FLASHPOINT AVERTED

A deadly escalation of the clash to include Russian combat aircraft was avoided.

“Coalition officials were in regular communication with Russian counterparts before, during and after the thwarted (enemy) attack,” a US official said.

Russia’s Ministry of Defence conceded the “pro-government militia” involved had not been acting with Russia’s knowledge.

Syrian state media has been casting the clash in a different light.

It reports US aircraft bombed Syrian loyalist militia which was engaged in a firefight with Islamic State forces, accusing the Coalition of an “attempt to support terrorism”.

Syria’s foreign ministry has written to the United Nations, stating the event was a Coalition “war crime”.

“We demand (that the international community) condemn this massacre and hold the coalition responsible for it.”

But Operation Inherent Resolve commanders reject that claim.

It says the area was liberated from Islamic State in September, and that it had observed the build-up of Syrian tanks and military equipment over the past week.

“The Coalition remains committed to focusing on the defeat-Daesh mission in the Middle Euphrates River Valley and asserts its non-negotiable right to act in self-defence,” it said in a statement.

A spokesman for the Kurdish YPG militia, which forms part of the SDF, said both sides have since returned to their former positions.

BOILING COULDRON

The collapse of Islamic State has left a power vacuum — and hordes of heavily armed faction groups spoiling for a fight.

Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad is backed by Russia and Shiite militias supported by Iran.

He wants to bring all of Syria, torn by civil war, back under his control.

In recent weeks, Assad-led forces have been engaged in heavy attacks on civilian areas held by rebel fighters in Idlib and Eastern Ghouta.

Adding to the confusion, some US-backed Syrian rebels have joined advancing Turkish forces in attacking ethnic Kurd enclaves in Syria.

But US commanders in the Middle East have expressed their sympathy for the Kurds, who for so long were the only group capable of resisting Islamic State and form a large part of the Syrian Democratic Alliance.

In many ways, it’s situation normal.

It all leaves the US-led Coalition under Operation Inherent Resolve balanced on a knife-edge. The international force was established in 2014 to evict Islamic State from Syria and Iraq. But now the same factional turmoil that allowed the Islamic extremists to seize power has returned with a vengeance.

Amid it all, some 2000 US troops remain on the ground.

TIME OF TURMOIL

The Pentagon has insisted the Coalition counter-attack was purely defensive.

Spokeswoman Dana White told a media briefing Washington was not picking a fight with Syria, Russia or Iran.

“We are not looking for a conflict with the regime,” White said.

But the incident comes after renewed allegations of pro-Assad forces using chemical weapons against its own Syrian people.

The United Nations, meanwhile, has called for a month-long ceasefire to allow the delivery of humanitarian aid and the evacuation of 400,000 civilians from the front lines.

Russia has rejected the proposal.

“That’s not realistic. We would like to see a ceasefire, the end of war in Syria, but the terrorists, I’m not sure they are in agreement,” Russian UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said.