The coalition said in a statement that the airstrike was requested by “partnered forces” near the town of Tabqa who accidentally targeted a group of Kurdish and Arab fighters known as the Syrian Democratic Forces, or SDF. The partnered forces believed that the SDF’s position belonged to the Islamic State, the statement said.
According to a U.S. official with knowledge of the accidental strike, an SDF unit in close proximity to the Islamic State defense lines reported its location incorrectly. When other SDF forces saw what they thought were Islamic State fighters, they ordered a strike–but it turned out to be on the SDF fighters who had provided the wrong location.
“The coalition has been working with the SDF for more than 2 years and have conducted thousands of strikes,” the official said in an email. “This was a very dynamic situation. ISIS was fighting to hold their position; they continue to lose ground. The ground units and Coalition Forces involved in this strike are well experienced and communicate often. Unfortunately, this dynamic situation resulted in loss of detailed location understanding.”
The incident highlights the inherent difficulties of using local ground forces in conjunction with Western air power on a battlefield with a small U.S. presence. There are roughly 500 U.S. Special Operations forces working with Syrian Democratic Forces spread throughout north eastern Syria.
“The general leadership of SDF in coordination with international coalition will investigate the reasons behind the accident in order to prevent it happening again,” the Syrian Democratic Forces General Command said in a statement.
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