Pentagon: Coalition Will Not Hesitate to Counter Threats to Its Forces in Syria

CNN reports, citing U.S. military officials, that forces supporting Bashar al-Assad are regrouping near coalition-supported forces along the Euphrates River; a Pentagon spokesperson also stated that the coalition will not hesitate to counter any potential threats. CNN, quoting three U.S. military officials, says that Assad's supporters are gathering in the same area that previously witnessed attacks and clashes with the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). The group known as the Syrian Democratic Forces, primarily composed of Kurdish militants, benefits from coalition support, and several American advisors are present alongside them in Deir ez-Zor province. The U.S.-led coalition announced in mid-February that in response to an 'unexpected attack' from 'forces supporting the Syrian government' on SDF positions in Deir ez-Zor, it conducted six airstrikes against Assad's supporters. The February clashes occurred eight kilometers east of the military buffer zone along the Euphrates River in Deir ez-Zor province. It has been reported that dozens, including an unspecified number of Russian mercenaries who had gone to Syria to support Assad, were killed in this attack. A U.S. military official told CNN that the coalition has communicated the issue of Assad's supporters regrouping in the area through a special communication channel with the Russian military. At the same time, Captain Adrian Rankin-Galloway, a spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Defense, also told CNN that 'although we are not seeking confrontation with the forces supporting the [Syrian central] government, as we have emphasized many times before, coalition forces will not hesitate to protect themselves against threats.' Reports suggest that the February attack by Assad's forces on the SDF may have aimed to seize certain centers and oil wells in Deir ez-Zor, areas that were previously under ISIS control and are now under the oversight of the Syrian Democratic Forces.