American airstrike targeted Government-backed Militia convoy in southern Syria

[EmperorScorpious]

[quote]Two US aircraft were dispatched as a “show of force” to get the Syrian vehicles to turn around. According to a US defense official, the vehicles did not stop and the show of force was escalated to include an airstrike. The official said at this time it is not clear if the strike was intended as a warning or intended to hit regime forces, who were militia tied to the regime as opposed to regular army troops.

A second US defense official said that an additional strike did hit the convoy after the vehicles continued toward the base.[/quote]

[url]http://fox6now.com/2017/05/18/us-led-coalition-airstrikes-targeted-syrian-regime-forces/[/url]

Edit: Just realized that this article said this was a militia tied to Assad, whereas CNN (on television) explicitly said that this was Syrian Army. Mod edit the title?

[Darkride196]

[url]http://www.cbsnews.com/news/us-aircraft-strike-syrian-regime-forces-al-tanf-base/[/url]

Here it's stated it's a army convoy. it's unclear ATM who exactly it was i guess.

[url]https://www.theatlantic.com/news/archive/2017/05/us-syria-strike/527241/[/url]

This says assad milita forces

[url]http://theweek.com/speedreads/699929/usled-coalition-syria-strikes-assadbacked-militia-forces[/url]

so does rueters

[url]http://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-usa-idUSKCN18E2JU?il=0[/url]

[OvB]

Bit better?

[RG4ORDR]

One the reasonings I saw was because there were US Operators embedded with a FSA unit near that area and they repeatedly told the Syrians to not approach them.

[Strikerrr]

[QUOTE=RG4ORDR;52246028]One the reasonings I saw was because there were US Operators embedded with a FSA unit near that area and they repeatedly told the Syrians to not approach them.[/QUOTE]

Last month ISIS mounted a complex attack on a SOF base around the same area, so I don't think they're taking any chances
[url]http://www.cnn.com/2017/04/09/politics/isis-attack-coalition-forces-in-syria/[/url]

[01271]

[url]http://foreignpolicy.com/2017/05/18/u-s-bombs-syrian-regime-forces-for-first-time/[/url]

[quote]The Americans first alerted their Russian colleagues using a special hotline the two sides set up to ensure their aircraft don’t operate in the same airspace. The Russians were unsuccessful in reaching the regime or convincing the group to turn around, after which U.S. aircraft buzzed the encampment to warn the forces off, according to the officials.

Warning shots were then fired, followed by airstrikes that destroyed the ground positions, along with one tank and several vehicles. Officials would not comment on any casualties.[/quote]

[quote]In a separate incident, a Syrian SU-22 fighter entered the deconfliction zone and was intercepted by a pair of American F-22 fighter aircraft. The Syrian plane quickly left the area that had been agreed to by American and Russian officials as a [b]no-go zone for aircraft from either side[/b].[/quote]
heh. Neat name for it.