BEIRUT • A United States-led coalition said yesterday it killed at least 100 pro-regime fighters to fend off an attack on its allies in eastern Syria, in one of its deadliest confrontations yet with forces backing Damascus.
The initial attack was carried out by forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad on key oil and gas installations in parts of Deir Ezzor province controlled by US-backed Kurdish forces.
The clash came against a backdrop of escalating tensions between Washington and Damascus over an uptick in the suspected use of chemical weapons by the regime and allied militia.
Meanwhile, regime warplanes rained bombs for a fourth consecutive day on the rebel-held enclave of Eastern Ghouta, outside Damascus, where the death toll has soared to 170 since Monday.
According to the US Central Command, coalition advisers were present in the area that was attacked by pro-government forces in Deir Ezzor late on Wednesday.
"The coalition conducted strikes against attacking forces to repel the act of aggression" against its own personnel and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) hosting them, it said.
"We estimate more than 100 Syrian pro-regime forces were killed while engaging SDF and coalition forces," a US military official said on condition of anonymity.
The head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the aim of the pro-regime forces appeared to be the capture of a key oil field and a major gas plant in a Syrian Democratic Forces-held area. The Omar oil field, one of the biggest in Syria, had a pre-war output of 30,000 barrels per day, while the Conoco gas field produced 13 million cubic metres a day.
The head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights Rami Abdel Rahman said the aim of the attack appeared to be the capture of a key oil field and a major gas plant in an SDF-held area.
The Omar oil field, one of the biggest in Syria, had a pre-war output of 30,000 barrels per day, while the Conoco gas field had a pre-war capacity of 13 million cubic metres a day.
Regime and SDF fighters were involved in several skirmishes in the area last year, as they each conducted parallel operations against some of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria militant group's last bastions.
Damascus and the US-backed Kurdish militia once worked towards the same goal in the region but they were never allied and the death of the ISIS "caliphate" has further strained an already frosty relationship.
Washington has recently ramped up the rhetoric against Damascus over its alleged use of chemical weapons, including on a number of occasions this year.
Chlorine-filled munitions are believed to have been fired several times at rebel-controlled areas, including Eastern Ghouta.
Warplanes dropped bombs for the fourth consecutive day yesterday, killing at least 22 civilians and wounding dozens, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
