Combat usage of long-range bombers Tu-22M3 against objects in Syria. Russian Ministry of Defense

WASHINGTON (Reuters) — Russian and Syrian aircraft bombed positions held by the U.S.-backed Syrian Arab Coalition near the Syrian town of Al Bab on Tuesday, inflicting casualties, the top U.S. commander in Iraq said on Wednesday.

"Yesterday, we had some Russian aircraft and (Syrian) regime aircraft bomb some villages that I believe they thought were held by ISIS, yet they were actually — on the ground — were some of our Syrian Arab coalition forces," Army Lieutenant General Stephen Townsend told a Pentagon news briefing, using an acronym for the Islamic State militant group.

Townsend added that US commandos were less than three miles from the site of the strikes, and that the bombing stopped when US personnel contacted the Russians on a special hotline.

Turkish-backed forces recaptured Al Bab, which is about 15 miles from the Turkish border in northwest Syria, on February 23, after a longer-than-expected operation that resulted in numerous combat deaths and killed hundreds of civilians. The original Turkish force had to be tripled in size by the end of the operation.

An ISIS suicide bombing near Al Bab days after the town fell killed 29 people and destroyed two rebel command posts.

(Reporting by Phil Stewart and Idrees Ali; editing by James Dalgleish)