U.S.-led coalition warplanes have bombed partner forces amid heavy clashes near an Islamic State stronghold in the east Syrian province of Deir ez-Zor, according to reports by Islamic State-linked media. The blue-on-blue claim is the second such one to be made by the terrorist group within a week, Al-Masdar News says.
According to the IS-linked Amaq media center, U.S.-led coalition airpower has mistakenly hit the positions of allied militias near the town of Ash-Sha’fah (currently under the control of Islamic State forces) in the southeastern countryside of Deir ez-Zor province.
The reports come amid a large operation by U.S.-led coalition partner forces to eject IS terrorists from Ash-Sha’fah and its surrounding area.
The town is, at present, witnessing heavy clashes at its eastern gates with Islamic State forces claiming to have killed eight US-backed fighters and captured another.
Just less than one week ago, IS claimed that coalition jets struck friendly forces in the As-Sosa region of Deir ez-Zor near the Iraqi border – no comment was made by official American military sources.
