Skirmish with Russian forces

U.S. service members injured in Syria after skirmish with Russian forces

Four troops have been diagnosed with mild concussion-like symptoms.

By LARA SELIGMAN and BETSY WOODRUFF SWAN

U.S. service members were injured after an altercation with Russian forces in northeast Syria on Tuesday, according to a draft military statement and a person familiar with the matter.

Four U.S. troops have been diagnosed with mild concussion-like symptoms after the incident involving Russian and coalition armored vehicles, according to the statement reviewed by POLITICO. A second U.S. source briefed on the matter confirmed that multiple U.S. troops were injured.

After POLITICO first published this story on Wednesday, National Security Council spokesperson John Ullyot confirmed parts of the encounter in a statement, but did not say the injuries involved U.S. troops.

The incident occurred around 10 a.m. Syria time on Tuesday, when a routine security patrol encountered Russian troops near Dayrick in northeast Syria, Ullyot said. A Russian vehicle struck a coalition vehicle, injuring its crew, he said, adding that the coalition patrol then left the area "to de-escalate the situation."

Ullyot condemned the Russian actions in the statement.

"Unsafe and unprofessional actions like this represent a breach of de-confliction protocols, committed to by the United States and Russia in December 2019," Ullyot said. "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."

Pentagon spokespeople declined to comment on the number of personnel injured or the type of injuries they sustained.

Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Mark Milley spoke to his Russian counterpart, Gen. Valery Gerasimov, by telephone on Wednesday, according to a Pentagon statement, but the details of their conversation were not released.

Videos of the encounter that emerged on Twitter on Wednesday appeared to show a Russian vehicle ramming an American vehicle, and a Russian helicopter flying low over U.S. forces.

The draft statement POLITICO reviewed, written by U.S. Central Command, said a Russian vehicle intentionally rammed a coalition vehicle, and that four U.S. troops were injured. The Russian vehicles unsafely pursued U.S. forces, according to the statement.

The U.S. has roughly 500 troops in Syria, primarily in the northeastern part of the country. The American troops are fighting alongside the Syrian Democratic Forces to destroy the remnants of the Islamic State militant group.

The Russian and U.S. militaries have operated in close proximity in Syria throughout the country’s long-running civil war and commanders have maintained a communication line to avoid hitting each other.

However, in recent months Russian forces have increasingly encroached on U.S. troop-controlled territory in eastern Syria, part of what officials say is a deliberate campaign to squeeze the U.S. military out of the region, POLITICO reported in June.

Although there have been several instances of close calls over the years, including between U.S. and Russian jets operating in the skies over Syria, the clashes have rarely turned violent. One notable exception was a bloody, four-hour battle in 2018, when American commandos killed 200 to 300 pro-Syrian government forces, including Russian mercenaries from the Wagner Group.

The incident comes six months after a controversy surrounding more than 100 U.S. service members who were diagnosed with traumatic brain injury stemming from Iran’s January missile attack on the Ain al-Asad base in Iraq. The Pentagon did not initially disclose the number of troops suffering from TBI and revised the number of personnel injured during the attack five times in subsequent weeks.