Russia to target US-backed SDF in Syria if provoked

Russia said on Thursday it had warned the United States it would target areas in Syria where US special forces and US-backed militia were operating if its own forces came under fire from them, something it said had already happened twice.

Russia was referring to the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), an alliance of Kurdish and Arab militias fighting with the US-led coalition, which Moscow said had diverted from the battle to take Raqqa to Deir Ezzor, where Russian special forces are helping the Syrian regime forces push out Daesh.

The Russian Defence Ministry said that the SDF had taken up positions on the eastern banks of the Euphrates with US special forces, and had twice opened fire with mortars and artillery on Syrian regime forces who were working alongside Russian special forces.

"Syrian regime forces were twice targeted with massive fire from mortar launchers and rocket artillery from areas east of the Euphrates river where SDF forces and US special forces are," Major-General Igor Konashenkov said in a statement.

"A representative of the US military command in Al Udeid [the US operations centre in Qatar] was told in no uncertain terms that any attempts to open fire from areas where SDF fighters are located would be quickly shut down," he said.

"Fire points in those areas will be immediately suppressed with all military means."

Tensions as rival offensives collide 

In Deir Ezzor province of eastern Syria, Daesh is battling two separate offensives, launched by the SDF on one side and the Syrian regime forces and its allies on the other.

The regime forces, backed by Russian and Syrian war planes, has captured about 100 km of the west bank of the Euphrates river this month, reaching the Raqqa provincial border on Wednesday, the Britain-based war monitor Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported.

Syrian troops also crossed to the eastern side of the river on Monday. The SDF's advances have been on the eastern bank of the river.

The convergence of the two rival offensives has increased tensions in Deir Ezzor. 

SDF said on Saturday that they had come under attack from Russian jets and Syrian regime forces, something Moscow denied.

To prevent the two operations from clashing, the coalition, the SDF, Syrian regime and Russia agreed on a "de-confliction line" that runs from the neighbouring province of Raqqa southeast along the Euphrates to Deir Ezzor.

The SDF warned on Monday against any further regime advances on the eastern riverbank.

Russia questions SDF-Daesh relationship

On Tuesday, Russia's Defence Ministry said the waters of the Euphrates had risen as soon as regime forces began crossing it, suggesting this could only have happened if upstream dams held by the US-backed opposition had been opened.

Konashenkov, in his Thursday statement, questioned the nature of SDF's relationship with Daesh. 

Russian drones did not detect any clashes between the two groups when SDF militants approached Deir Ezzor, he said. 

SDF, is led by the YPG, Turkey considers YPG an offshoot of the PKK, which has been designated as a terrorist group by Ankara, the EU and the US.

The PKK has been waging an armed campaign against Turkey since 1984. 

Air strikes in Hama

Separately, Syrian regime warplanes and its allies launched air strikes against rebels north of the city of Hama on Thursday after recapturing villages lost to the rebels in an attack earlier in the week, SOHR said.

A series of strikes after midnight hit areas in rebel-held Khan Shaykhun, Kafr Nabil, Kafr Zeita and Maarat al Numan, the war monitor said.

The offensive by various fighting groups this week was their biggest near Hama since March, but the regime forces late on Wednesday retook the villages it lost in the attack, the monitor said.