FOREIGN POLICY/MILITARY/SYRIA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “The American-backed coalition in Syria has repelled an attack by forces supporting the Assad government, carrying out deadly strikes Wednesday [2-7-18] night, in a rare confrontation between competing factions that have both fought the Islamic State… The S.D.F., a mix of Kurdish, Arab and other fighters, is allied with the international coalition, including the United States, and Central Command said that coalition troops were with the S.D.F. forces at the time of the attack… The Syrian state news agency, Sana, described the strikes as aggression by the coalition against ‘popular forces that were fighting Daesh,’ a term for the Islamic State. It said they had left ‘scores of persons dead and others injured.’
It was not clear whether those killed were the forces of the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, or of his allies.
The clash occurred in Deir al-Zour Province in eastern Syria, between the Euphrates and the Iraqi border. Syrian government forces in the area and their allies, including Russia, have competed with the S.D.F. to seize territory rich in oil and natural gas that had been controlled by retreating Islamic State militants. Central Command said the pro-government forces had attacked about five miles past ‘the agreed-upon Euphrates River de-confliction line.’…
Farther west in Syria, Americans are also in a standoff with Turkey, a NATO ally, which is fighting Kurdish-led forces.”
-Richard Perez-Pena, “U.S.-Backed Coalition in Syria Strikes Pro-Assad Forces” The New York Times online, Feb. 8, 2018