A US coalition airstrike in Syria on December 4. Photo Reuters.

[Title changed to account for new reports mentioned at bottom of post]

Al Masdar News reports:

For the first time since the U.S. President Barack Obama announced an aerial campaign against the Islamic State of Iraq and Al-Sham (ISIS) in Syria, the Anti-ISIS Coalition of predominately Arab states have struck a Syrian Arab Army (SAA) camp in the Syrian province of Deir Ezzor, killing 1 soldier and wounding half dozen others on Sunday evening. According to a military source from the Syrian Arab Army’s 104th Airborne Brigade of the Republican Guard, a U.S. warplane struck the military camp belonging to the SAA’s 137th Artillery Brigade (17th Reserve Division) in the village of ‘Ayyash, killing 1 soldier instantly and leaving 6 soldiers in critical condition – including an officer. The Syrian Arab Army’s 137th Brigade has been protecting the civilians in the village of ‘Ayyash from the swarming ISIS fighters that are attempting to break into the provincial capital of the Deir Ezzor Governorate from the northern flank; this airstrike only boosted ISIS’ positions inside this village and the nearby broadcast tower. As of now; it is not clear who the U.S.-led Anti-ISIS Coalition aircraft meant to target, but it was clear to the Syrian Arab Army soldiers that the airstrikes were inaccurate and lacked logistical comprehension of the ground situation in the Deir Ezzor Governorate.

Al Masdar News adds:

Following the US-led airstrikes on Ayash military base in Deir ez-Ezzor, it has been confirmed that 1 Syrian Arab Army soldier has been killed with reports circulating that as many as 4 were killed, 13 wounded and 2 tanks destroyed. It has been confirmed that ISIS immediately attacked Ayash military base immediately following the airstrikes. The Syrian Arab Army have been in control of the Ayash military base for the entirety of the war, questioning American intelligence whether this was a deliberate attack.

Update 1

Some reports are claiming it was a friendly fire incident by the Russian air force:

[The tweet above was deleted]

Update 2

Press TV reports:

The Syrian government says three of its soldiers have been killed in an airstrike by the US-led coalition created to allegedly target Daesh Takfiri terrorists. In a statement on Monday, the Syrian Foreign and Expatriates Ministry said 13 troops were also injured when four US-led coalition warplanes fired nine missiles at one of the Syrian army’s posts in the central-east of the country in Deir Ezzor Province. The ministry stressed that the Syrian Arab Republic strongly condemns the “heinous aggression” by the coalition, adding that the attacks run counter to the goals and spirit of the UN Charter, Syria’s official news agency, SANA, reported. The so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which is affiliated to the foreign-backed Syria opposition, had earlier said that four Syrian troops were killed after the air raids hit part of the Saeqa military camp near the town of Ayyash in the west of Deir Ezzor Province. According to the observatory, this is the first time that a strike from the US-led coalition kills Syrian government troops. […]

AFP reports:

Beirut (AFP) – The US-led coalition fighting the Islamic State group denied Monday its planes carried out air strikes that killed at least three Syrian regime troops a day earlier. “We’ve seen those Syrian reports but we did not conduct any strikes in that part of Deir Ezzor yesterday. So we see no evidence,” said Colonel Steve Warren, spokesman for the coalition. He said the coalition’s only strikes in Deir Ezzor on Sunday were some 55 kilometres (34 miles) southeast of the area where the troops were allegedly killed, near the town of Ayyash. “We struck 55 km away from the area that the Syrians say was struck. That was the only area in Deir Ezzor we struck yesterday,” he told AFP. “There were no human beings in the area that we struck yesterday, all we struck was a wellhead,” he added. […]

Update 3



https://twitter.com/DracoDoclean/status/673920881777881088

Update 3

Video footage of aftermath of airstrike on Syrian army base: