One man was killed and three civilians were wounded in clashes between American troops and Syrian regime forces near the village of Khirbet Ammo, Al Hasaka governorate, on February 12th, 2020, according to local sources. It remains unclear if the killed man was a civilian or a member of an armed group.
Sana reported that “American occupation soldiers fired live bullets and smoke bombs on the locals as a civilian from the village of Khirbet Ammo was martyred while another civilian from Hamou village was injured.” According to Sana, “hundreds of locals of Khirbet Ammo and Hamou villagers gathered near the post to prevent the American occupation vehicles from crossing and to force them to return from where they came.”
Step News Agency gave different accounts of the incident, writing when American troops were approaching a checkpoint of the Syrian regime forces, the regime forces then used young men to throw stones at the four American vehicles.
According to Step’s correspondent, “armed men in the gathering in civilian clothes opened fire in the air, and the American forces retaliated returning fire, killing Faisal Khaled al Muhammad, a resident of Khirbet Ammo village, and wounding another civilian. Whereas some sources reported the killed man was a civilian, other sources, such as the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, wrote it was still unclear if the man was “a civilian or regime-backed militiaman”. According to Step, two members of the Syrian regime forces were also wounded.
Al Khabour reported that a group of youths from the village intercepted the American patrol by throwing stones at them and then “took refuge in the regime’s checkpoint”, adding that American soldiers directly targeted the young men.
Colonel Myles Caggings, spokesman for the international Coalition against ISIS, posted a statement on Twitter (@OIRSpox), stating that “Coalition forces, conducting a patrol near Qamishli, Syria, encountered a checkpoint occupied by Syrian regime forces. After Coalition troops issued a series of warnings and de-escalation attempts, the patrol came under small arms fire from unknown individuals. In self-defence, Coalition troops returned fire. The situation was de-escalated and is under investigation. The Coalition patrol returned to base”.
Shaam News Network reported that Russian military vehicles were also present in the area. Sources gave conflicting reports on the incident occurring either in the morning or in the afternoon.
In a civilian casualty assessment released July 10th 2021, the Coalition classed this event as ‘non credible’, claiming that “After a review of all available records it was determined that, more likely than not, civilian casualties did not occur as a result of a Coalition action.”
The incident occured in the morning.
