Firefight with US-led coalition leaves Syrian soldier dead, state-run news says
A lethal clash between Syrian forces and a US patrol occurred after Syrian troops allegedly refused to allow a US patrol to cross a checkpoint.
A skirmish between US-led coalition troops and Syrian pro-regime forces near the city of Qamishli left a Syrian soldier dead and two others wounded, Syria’s state-run SANA news agency said Monday morning.
The US-led coalition confirmed a firefight had taken place but denied SANA’s claim that a US helicopter had fired on the Syrian government checkpoint.
The two sides issued conflicting accounts of the incident. SANA claimed the pro-regime checkpoint denied the coalition troops passage, leading the US patrol to open fire.
The coalition said its patrol was allowed through the checkpoint before it came under fire.
