On Monday morning, a Russian missile struck the Syrian Arab Army’s (SAA) positions in the Palmyra countryside, killing 17 soldiers and wounding 26 others during a fierce battle with the Islamic State of Iraq and Al-Sham (ISIS).
According to a battlefield correspondent that is embedded with the Syrian Armed Forces in the Palmyra countryside, the Russian missile hit a group of soldiers from the Syrian Marines, killing the entire unit and their commander ‘Ali Rahmoun.
The friendly-fire took place near the Palmyra Triangle, where the Syrian Armed Forces are currently advancing amid fierce resistance from the Islamic State of Iraq and Al-Sham.
The incident was not intentional; however, poor coordination was cited as the reason for the friendly-fire that killed 17 Syrian Marines.
Several western publications reported that ISIS killed 26 Syrian soldiers in Palmyra today; this is incorrect – the majority of the casualties today came as a result of friendly-fire.
The Syrian and Russian armed forces have yet to comment on this matter because of the ongoing investigation.
from
via Defense