A u.s official said the collision
occurred after the russian vehicle
carried out what was characterized as a
reckless move. The injuries to the u.s service members
were characterized as concussive type
injuries that were minor in nature, the
u.s official said. To de-escalate the situation the
coalition patrol departed the area, said Aliyat.
Unsafe and unprofessional actions like
this represent a breach of deconfliction
protocols committed to by the united
states and russia. The coalition and the united states do
not seek escalation with any national
military forces, but u.s forces always
retain the inherent right and obligation
to defend themselves from hostile acts, the statement continued.
In addition to the actions by the
russian military vehicles, russian
military helicopters in the vicinity
also hovered above the tops of the
american vehicles for some time, according to the u.s official.
Gene Mark Milley, the chairman of the
joint chiefs of staff called General Valerie Jurassimo the chief of the
russian general staff by telephone on
wednesday to discuss the incident. In accordance with past practice both
have agreed to keep the specific details
of their private conversation, said call
dede healthhill the spokesperson for the
joint chiefs of staff.
At least 500 american troops continued
to operate in eastern syria to help
protect oil fields operated by kurdish
forces from ISIS. American troops came into almost daily
contact with russian military forces
that operate in northern syria and u.s
officials say the large majority of
those interactions are professional in
nature. But the u.s official said tuesday's
incident occurred, clearly inside the
eastern security zone that the russians
have agreed to stay out of.
A u.s official confirmed that videos
posted by russian websites captured
tuesday's chaotic incident. One video appears to show an apparent
collision between an american armored
vehicle and a russian armored vehicle. At one point a russian military
helicopter hovered directly above a
stationary american vehicle in an
apparent attempt to make it move from
its location.
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