Battle of Khasham

Battle of Conoco Fields (Battle of Khasham)
Part of the 2017–2019 Deir ez-Zor campaign of the Syrian civil war

Hatched box shows location of clashes
Territorial control in February 2018:
  Syrian Arab Republic
  Syrian Democratic Forces
Date7–8 February 2018
(1 day)
Location
near Khasham, Deir ez-Zor Governorate, Syria
35°20′10″N 40°18′34″E / 35.33611°N 40.30944°E / 35.33611; 40.30944
Result American and SDF victory
Belligerents
Commanders and leaders
 Unknown
Units involved

Syria Syrian government forces

Wagner Group[10][3]

Strength

  • 40 American troops[6]

US aircraft and artillery

500 Syrian and Russian troops[12][13]
Casualties and losses
  • United States None
  • 1 SDF fighter wounded[14]

The Battle of Khasham, also known as the Battle of Conoco Fields, was a military engagement of the Syrian civil war fought on 7 February 2018 near the towns of Khasham and Al Tabiyeh in the Deir ez-Zor Governorate, Syria. The Operation Inherent Resolve coalition delivered air and artillery strikes on Syrian Armed Forces and pro-government militias after they reportedly engaged a U.S. military and Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) position in the region.

The US Central Command stated that pro-government forces had "initiated an unprovoked attack against well-established Syrian Democratic Forces headquarters" in the area, while coalition service members were "co-located with SDF partners during the attack 8 kilometers (5 mi) east of the agreed-upon Euphrates River de-confliction line".[20][21][22] The Russian Ministry of Defence's statement, released on 8 February 2018, referred to the incident at the village of Salihiyah (located south of the SDF-held town of Abu Hamam in the Abu Kamal District) and said that it was caused by reconnaissance actions of Syrian militias that had not been cleared with the Russian operations command; the statement stressed that there were no Russian service members in the "designated district of the Deir ez-Zor province of Syria".[23][24]

The number of pro-Syrian government troops–particularly the number of Russian mercenaries–has been the subject of debate.[19]: 49  Shortly after the fighting, the American officials estimated that around 100 Syrian troops had been killed in the fighting, with some reports of Russian mercenaries among the dead.[13] As unconfirmed accounts of casualties among Russian Wagner Group mercenaries in the strike emerged, the incident was billed by media as "the first deadly clash between citizens of Russia and the United States since the Cold War".[25]

Reporting by Der Spiegel and the official Russian position hold that U.S. troops repelling a Syrian attack "happened to kill 20–30 Russians", while the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) believed there were some Russian casualties caused by a nearby booby-trap unrelated to the assault. However, other news organizations and American official estimates ranged up to a "couple of hundred" Russians killed. The Ukrainian Security Service of Ukraine identified 65 Russians as killed through open-source intelligence, though this appraisal has the potential for forgery. A report published the University of Southern Denmark in 2019 which referred to claims made by Der Spiegel's report, official Russian and American statements, and other sources estimated "that 65–200 Russians (of which a few may have been Russian special operators assisting or leading the Wagnerites) died as a result of the fighting, some in the field, and some in hospital beds in Syria and Russia".[19]: 49–54 

  1. ^ Zavis, Alexandra; Bulos, Nabih (2018-02-09). "Rare U.S. strike on pro-government forces kills scores of fighters". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 2018-02-08. Retrieved 2018-02-09.
  2. ^ a b c d Cite error: The named reference spiegeltruth was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ a b "Russians dead in 'battle' in Syria's east". Daily Star. 12 February 2018. Archived from the original on 5 February 2019. Retrieved 13 February 2018.
  4. ^ "Казак Владимир Логинов и член партии "Другая Россия" Кирилл Ананьев погибли в Сирии" [Cossack Vladimir Loginov and member of the Other Russia party Kirill Ananyev died in Syria]. Interfax.
  5. ^ "Russians killed in clash with U.S.-led forces in Syria, say associates". Reuters. 12 February 2018.
  6. ^ a b c Gibbons-Neff, Thomas (2018-05-24). "How a 4-Hour Battle Between Russian Mercenaries and U.S. Commandos Unfolded in Syria". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 2018-05-28. Retrieved 2020-08-31.
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference harrigianstatement was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ "Did U.S. and Russian Troops Fight Their Bloodiest Battle Since World War I in February?". National Interest. 16 June 2018. Archived from the original on 8 June 2019. Retrieved 8 June 2019.
  9. ^ "U.S. Military Bombs Russian Tank in Video From Syria Attack on Assad Supporters". News Week. 13 February 2019. Archived from the original on 8 June 2019. Retrieved 8 June 2019.
  10. ^ "In Syria, Russian bad faith turns fatal". Washington Post. 9 February 2018. Archived from the original on 10 October 2018. Retrieved 12 February 2018.
  11. ^ "Relatives and friends of Wagner mercenaries we named earlier confirm to @ru_rbc they indeed had been killed in Syria". 12 February 2018. Archived from the original on 21 February 2018. Retrieved 12 February 2018.
  12. ^ "Unprovoked attack by Syrian pro-regime forces prompts Coalition defensive strikes". CJTF-OIR PAO. 7 February 2018. Archived from the original on 2019-02-20. Retrieved 2019-02-19.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  13. ^ a b "Syria condemns US air strike as massacre". BBC News. 2018-02-08. Archived from the original on 2018-04-25. Retrieved 2018-02-08.
  14. ^ a b Starr, Barbara; Browne, Ryan (2018-02-07). "US-led coalition strikes kill pro-regime forces in Syria". CNN. Archived from the original on 2019-04-11. Retrieved 2018-02-09.
  15. ^
  16. ^ "Pompeo says 'couple of hundred' Russians killed in Syria clash". Agence France-Presse. 12 April 2018. Retrieved 12 March 2024 – via France 24.
  17. ^ Cite error: The named reference warehouse was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  18. ^ "Russian toll in Syria battle was 300 killed and wounded: sources". Reuters. February 16, 2018. Archived from the original on June 15, 2020. Retrieved May 21, 2020.
  19. ^ a b c Rendboe, Niklas M. (1 June 2019). "Connecting the dots of PMC Wagner: Strategic actor or mere business opportunity?". University of Southern Denmark.
  20. ^ Cite error: The named reference inherentresolvestaement was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  21. ^ "Unprovoked attack by Syrian pro-regime forces prompts Coalition defensive strikes". United States Central Command. 7 February 2018. Archived from the original on 8 February 2018. Retrieved 7 February 2018.
  22. ^ Thomas Gibbons-Neff (May 24, 2018). "How a 4-Hour Battle Between Russian Mercenaries and U.S. Commandos Unfolded in Syria". New York Times. Archived from the original on May 28, 2018. Retrieved May 24, 2018.
  23. ^ "В Минобороны назвали причину обстрела коалицией США сирийских ополченцев". 8 February 2018. Archived from the original on 2018-03-04. Retrieved 2018-03-03.
  24. ^ "The U.S.-led coalition killed Russians in airstrikes against pro-Syrian government forces, reports say". Newsweek. 2018-02-12. Archived from the original on 2018-07-31. Retrieved 2018-02-13.
  25. ^ Russian mercenary boss spoke with Kremlin before attacking US forces in Syria, intel claims Archived 2018-02-27 at the Wayback Machine The Telegraph, 23 February 2018.