... Devil Dogs win.
The US Military Is Now Fighting Russian Mercenaries In Syria
http://dailycaller.com/2018/02/13/the-us-military-is-now-fighting-russian-mercenaries-in-syria/
A U.S.-led strike last week may have killed hundreds of Russian military contractors embedded with pro-Syrian irregular forces, raising new concerns that the two most powerful militaries operating in Syria are on a collision course.
More than 200 mercenaries hired by forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad were killed in a failed attack on a Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) base where U.S. troops were also stationed, reports Bloomberg, citing Russian officials familiar with the matter. A U.S. official put the death toll at about 100, with up to 300 injured.
The confrontation kicked off when pro-regime forces advanced on an SDF headquarters about 8 miles east of the Euphrates River "deconfliction" line, where American special operations troops are embedded in an "advise, assist, and accompany" capacity, according to U.S. officials. The U.S.-led coalition responded with a barrage of artillery and air strikes, hitting the pro-regime fighters with gunships, fighter jets and Marine Corps artillery.
Initial Pentagon reports of the battle said about 100 pro-Assad fighters were killed over a three-hour bombardment, while the U.S. coalition sustained just one casualty, an injured SDF fighter. At the time, some U.S. defense officials speculated that Russian mercenaries were among those killed, and independent analysts have since confirmed that seven Russian contractors were killed.
But the heavy casualty count reported Tuesday could mean that Russian military contractors are operating in greater numbers, and in closer proximity to U.S. troops, that previously thought. The Kremlin said Tuesday it had no information about mercenaries reportedly being killed in Syria, conceding only that officials were aware of Russians deployed there with regular armed forces.
"We don't have information about other Russians who might be in Syria," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, according to Reuters. ...
The essential American soul is hard, isolate, stoic, and a killer. It has never yet melted. ~ D.H. Lawrence
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