Sydney, SANA – Australia acknowledged that its aircrafts participated alongside the US alliance aircrafts in the aggression that targeted Syrian Arab Army positions in Deir Ezzor.

The Australian Department of Defense said in a statement on Sunday that it will cooperate fully with the review of the incident by the alliance, asserting that while Syria remains a dynamic and complex operating environment, Australia would never intentionally target a known Syrian military unit, nor would it provide support for ISIS, offering condolences to the families of the victims of the attack.

The General Command of the Army and Armed Forces had reported that US alliance aircrafts targeted at 5 PM on Saturday a Syrian Arab Army position in al-Tharda Mountain in the surroundings of Deir Ezzor Airport, causing losses in lives and equipment.

The Foreign and Expatriates Ministry sent two letters to the UN Secretary-General and the head of the Security Council in which it said that the US aggression was premeditated and paved the way for ISIS to seize the position.

Hazem Sabbagh </s> The Australian Department of Defence has offered its condolences to the families of Syrian soldiers killed or wounded in a U.S.-led bombing campaign on Saturday, in which Australia participated and Russia said hit Syrian military personnel and vehicles.

Australian aircraft were among the warplanes that struck what were believed to be Islamic State fighting positions around Deir al-Zor in Eastern Syria.

However, shortly after the bombing started Russian officials advised the multinational Combined Air Operations Centre that the targets may have been Syrian military personnel.

The Australian Ministry of Defence said on Sunday that it would fully cooperate with a Coalition review of the incident.

“While Syria remains a dynamic and complex operating environment, Australia would never intentionally target a known Syrian military unit or actively support Daesh (also known as ISIL),” the ministry said in a statement.

“Defence offers its condolences to the families of any Syrian personnel killed or wounded in this incident,” the ministry said on Sunday. </s> SYDNEY, Sept 18 (Reuters) - The Australian Department of Defence has offered its condolences to the families of Syrian soldiers killed or wounded in a U.S.-led bombing campaign on Saturday, in which Australia participated and Russia said hit Syrian military personnel and vehicles.

Australian aircraft were among the warplanes that struck what were believed to be Islamic State fighting positions around Deir al-Zor in Eastern Syria.

However, shortly after the bombing started Russian officials advised the multinational Combined Air Operations Centre that the targets may have been Syrian military personnel.

The Australian Ministry of Defence said on Sunday that it would fully cooperate with a Coalition review of the incident.

"While Syria remains a dynamic and complex operating environment, Australia would never intentionally target a known Syrian military unit or actively support Daesh (also known as ISIL)," the ministry said in a statement.

"Defence offers its condolences to the families of any Syrian personnel killed or wounded in this incident," the ministry said on Sunday. (Reporting by Harry Pearl; Editing by Eric Meijer) </s> Australian Defence aircraft were part of a bombing raid in Syria that may have hit that country's military instead of Islamic State targets.

Officials have offered condolences to the families of Syrian soldiers who may have been killed during a bombing raid on what was believed to be Islamic State targets.

Australian aircraft were among a group of international planes taking part in an operation near Dayr Az Zawr when Russian officials advised the targets may have been Syrian military personnel, a statement said on Sunday.

'While Syria remains a dynamic and complex operating environment, Australia would never intentionally target a known Syrian military unit or actively support Daesh (also known as ISIL),' a defence spokesperson said.

The Syrian military said the airstrike hit a base in the eastern city of Deir el-Zour that is surrounded by ISIS, allowing the extremists to advance.

The apparently errant strike could deal a blow to a fragile US and Russian-brokered cease-fire that has largely held for five days despite dozens of alleged violations on both sides.

The Syrian military said the airstrikes enabled an ISIS advance on a hill overlooking the air base.

A Russian Defense Ministry official said Syria informed them that 62 of its soldiers were killed in the airstrike.

Defense Ministry spokesman Major General Igor Konashenkov said the airstrike near Deir el-Zour airport was conducted by two F-16s and two A-10s.

He did not identify the planes' country affiliation, but said they were part of the international coalition.

Konashenkov said Syrian authorities reported another 100 wounded. The planes came from the direction of the Iraqi border. </s> Australia has said its warplanes took part in US-led air strikes in eastern Syria that mistakenly killed Syrian army troops in an incident threatening to wreck an already tenuous ceasefire before it is a week old.

Russia’s military said it was told by the Syrian army that at least 62 soldiers were killed in the attack on a government position near Deir ez-Zour, with more than 100 wounded. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least 90 soldiers were killed.

The first air strikes on Aleppo since the ceasefire began last Monday evening were reported on Sunday.

An Australian defence department statement said its jets had targeted fighters they thought to be members of Islamic State, the jihadist faction also known as Isis.

“Overnight, coalition aircraft were conducting air strikes in eastern Syria against what was believed to be a Daesh [Islamic State] fighting position that the coalition had been tracking for some time,” the statement said.

“However, shortly after the bombing commenced, Russian officials advised the Combined Air Operations Centre that the targets may have been Syrian military personnel.

“While Syria remains a dynamic and complex operating environment, Australia would never intentionally target a known Syrian military unit or actively support [Islamic State],” it said, offering condolences to the families of the dead and pledging to co-operate with a US inquiry.

The US has also offered condolences and insisted the air strikes were a mistake. It said it had targeted Tharda mountain where a Syrian government offensive was seeking to capture Islamic State positions overlooking the Deir ez-Zour military airport.

Damascus claimed it had succeeded in taking Tharda despite the US bombing, and rejected Washington’s insistence that it hit Syrian troops in error. A foreign ministry statement said Syrian positions had been repeatedly attacked in strikes that were “on purpose and planned in advance”.

Russia warned that the incident puts a “very big question mark” over the future of a precarious ceasefire agreed by Washington and Moscow, and a strongly worded foreign ministry statement on Sunday said the strikes were “on the boundary between criminal negligence and direct connivance with Islamic State terrorists”.

It said the incident was a result of Washington’s “stubborn refusal” to co-operate with Moscow in fighting Isis, the al-Nusra Front – now renamed Jabhat Fateh al Sham – and “other terrorist groups”.
Australia's Department of Defence acknowledges its participation "among a number of international aircraft" in the Deir ez-Zor air raid. It says it would "never intentionally target a known Syrian military unit or actively support Daesh (ISIS)" and offers its condolences.