A clip of the incident was broadcast by Russian website Rusvesna.su
DAMASCUS, Aug 28 (NNN-AGENCIES) —The Russian and US governments have blamed each other for a collision between Russian and US armoured vehicles in north-eastern Syria in which several US troops were injured.
Video of the collision was broadcast by a Russian nationalist website, Rusvesna.su, then widely retweeted.
The video appears to show a Russian military vehicle in a desert convoy ramming a US armoured car, as a Russian helicopter flies low overhead.
Russia says the US obstructed a patrol.
A US defence official said that Russian forces had entered a “security zone” that they had agreed to stay out of.
The White House said the vehicle’s crew sustained minor injuries in the collision.
News of the incident broke on Wednesday. There have been frequent interactions between US and Russian forces in Syria, but confrontations are considered rare.
The Russians back Syrian government forces while the Americans support local Kurdish fighters, in a civil war that has convulsed the country since 2011.
The Russian defence ministry said it had given the US military prior warning that it would be patrolling in the area.
“Despite that, in violation of existing agreements, the US armed forces soldiers tried to block the Russian patrol,” said a ministry statement quoted by Tass news agency.
“In response to that, the Russian military police took necessary measures to prevent an incident and to carry on fulfilling the mission they had been given.”
Syria has hosted Russian military police since 2016. They were deployed to maintain law and order in parts of Syria under government control, protect Russian forces and oversee ceasefires in so-called de-escalation zones.
Russia has also provided huge firepower, including heavy bombers, for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s forces battling various rebel groups, including IS.
The White House National Security Council (NSC) said a Russian vehicle had struck a US mine-resistant all-terrain vehicle, “causing injuries to the vehicle’s crew”.
An unnamed US military source told the Politico website that four US soldiers had suffered mild concussion.
The US has about 500 troops in the area – far fewer than previously – to help secure it against any further threat from Daesh militants. The US military is assisting the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) alliance.
NSC spokesperson John Ullyot, quoted by Politico, said the incident had occurred at about 10:00 local time on Tuesday, when a routine security patrol encountered Russian troops near Dayrick in north-east Syria.
Condemning the Russian military for colliding with a US vehicle, he said the coalition patrol had then left the area “to de-escalate the situation”.
“Unsafe and unprofessional actions like this represent a breach of de-confliction protocols, committed to by the United States and Russia in December 2019,” Ullyot said. — NNN-AGENCIES
