(Damascus) The US has admitted to carrying out an air-strike on a Syrian army convoy which was advancing down the main Damascus-Baghdad highway towards a forward US/UK base where they have been training Kurds for a while now.
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#Coalition forces have operated in the At Tanf area for many months training & advising vetted partner forces who are fighting #ISIS.3/3— Inherent Resolve (@CJTFOIR) 18 May 2017
The convoy of 27 tanks made up of Syrian and Iranian backed militia had taken no heed of a message sent by the US to the Russians in which to get the Syrians to stop their advance towards the US and UK special forces base at al-Tanf which is close to the Iraqi/Syrian border crossing. A 34-mile defensive/ deconfliction zone exists around the
base, and the Syrian/Iranian forces advanced 15 miles inside that.
data-lang="en-gb">This was followed by a warning flypast, which was followed up by warning shots fired when no notice was taken by the advancing armoured column. After all these attempts had failed, permission was taken to target the convoy. Several regime tanks and trucks were reportedly destroyed.
This was despite #Russian attempts to dissuade pro-regime movement towards At Tanf, #Coalition aircraft show of force, & warning shots2/3— Inherent Resolve (@CJTFOIR) 18 May 2017
data-lang="en-gb">This was the second incident involving Syrian forces (and friends) and the base at Al Tanf. The other incident involved an unarmed Syrian SU-22 fighter-bomber which entered the deconfliction zone and was intercepted by a pair of F-22 fighters and politely shown the way home.
May 18 #Coalition struck #Syrian pro-regime forces advancing in a de-confliction zone near At Tanf posing a threat to #US partner forces1/3— Inherent Resolve (@CJTFOIR) 18 May 2017
The Syrian army and Iranian-backed militia moved hundreds of
troops with tanks to the town of Sabaa Biyar on Monday which is in the Badia, and is
near the strategic Damascus-Baghdad highway.
Update
The Syrian Army has admitted they were hit and have stated the following:
A convoy of five T-62 tanks were hit by the U.S. Coalition.Two tanks were destroyed. A Shilka was damaged (ZSU23/4) Six military personnel were killed and another three were
wounded. Convoy consisted of soldiers from the Syrian Arab Army
(SAA), National Defense Forces (NDF), Hezbollah, and Imam Al-‘Ali Battalions.
Point of interest regards the use of T62 tank.. Whilst the Russians have made a huge song and dance about the invincibility of the T90 tank and have handed a few over to the Syrian Army. The vast majority of armour sold to Syria these past few months have been T62M tanks.
The T-62M is an improved version of the Soviet T-62 tank with extra protection and mobility improvements and the “Volna” fire control system. It is
fitted with a BDD appliqué armour package, an additional belly armour plate for
anti-mine protection, 10 mm thick reinforced rubber side skirts and 10 mm thick
anti-neutron liner.
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| T62M (Note BDD armour. Nicknamed “Brow” armour because of its
resemblance to
Lenin’s thick eyebrows)
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| Side angle of BDD armour |
