Russia, US agree on need to improve military coordination in Syria

The United States and Russia have agreed on the need to improve military coordination in Syria in order to prevent possible incidents while carrying out operations in the war-torn country, the Russian defense ministry said on Sunday.

According to the ministry, military officials from the two countries reached the agreement at a video conference on Saturday.

At the conference, US military officials "expressed strong concerns about the attack on the coalition-supported counter-ISIL forces at the Al-Tanaf garrison, which included forces that are participants in the cessation of hostilities in Syria," said Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook after the talks.

He added that the Pentagon "emphasized that those concerns would be addressed through ongoing diplomatic discussions on the cessation of hostilities."

US defense officials said that Russian forces in Al-Tanaf targeted a meeting of combatants supported by the US-led coalition that was held to coordinate the fight against forces of the Islamic State group in Syria and Iraq.

The Syrians belonged to the New Syrian Army, trained by the British and the Americans in a coalition camp in Jordan, while the Iraqis were tribal fighters, officials said.

Russia's defense ministry said late Thursday however that it had not carried out any strikes targeting opposition forces included in the ceasefire, without mentioning Al-Tanaf -- an assertion challenged by the United States.

"Regarding safety, department officials conveyed that Russia's continued strikes at Al-Tanaf, even after US attempts to inform Russian forces through proper channels of on-going coalition air support to the counter-ISIL forces, created safety concerns for US and coalition forces," Cook said.

"(Defense) Department officials requested Russian responses to address those concerns. The two sides reiterated the need to adhere to measures to enhance operational safety and avoid accidents and misunderstandings in the air space over Syria."

• Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov dismissed the allegation, saying the Russian strikes hit about 300 km (190 miles) away from territory where the United States had said opposition forces were operating.

He also said Russia had notified the US-led coalition about the targets it was planning to strike.

"The Russian defense ministry for the past few months has been proposing to its American colleagues to draw a unified map, which would containing information about the location of the forces which were active in Syria. However, no material progress has been made on this issue," Konashenkov said.

Russia, which has been bombing opposition-held areas, has repeatedly been blamed by the Syrian opposition and rights activists for causing hundreds of civilian deaths and targeting hospitals, schools and infrastructure in what they say are indiscriminate attacks.

Moscow has dismissed the all such allegations.
 [i24news.tv]
19/6/16