Russia bombed site near US forces in Syria in ISIS fight

New York [USA], Mar. 2 (ANI): Russian air forces bombed a site extremely close to U.S. troops in Syria on Tuesday, a near-miss while targeting the Islamic State - though the strikes still hit U.S.-backed forces. The Fox News quoted U.S. Lt. Army Gen. Stephen Townsend as saying on Wednesday that the incident occurred after Russian pilots began bombing what they thought were ISIS fighters in a "bunch of villages" in northern Syria. They ended up hitting forces with the U.S.-backed Syrian Arab Coalition. U.S. troops were several miles away, and the bombing stopped after U.S. officials made "quick calls . to deconfliction channels," said Townsend, commander of Operation Inherent Resolve, the joint operation to stop ISIS in Iraq and Syria. "It's a very complicated battlefield situation. Essentially three armies have all converged within same grid square. It's very difficult and complicated," Townsend told reporters in a teleconference from Baghdad. Meanwhile, Russia's escalating involvement in Syria, though, has posed complications -- while the U.S. and Russia both are fighting ISIS, Moscow has been at odds with Washington in its support of Bashar Assad. Townsend also said soldiers continue to make progress in the fight to destroy ISIS, but that officials have no plans to increase troop levels. (ANI)