US: Reports of 4 soldiers killed in Syria are false

Four US soldiers were reported to have been killed in north-east Syria by an explosion in the countryside in Hasakah province, the state-run Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) said yesterday, but the US denied the claims.

According to SANA, the incident was caused after an improvised explosive device in the village of Markade on the road from Hasakah to Deir Ez-Zor tore through a US military vehicle and killed the four soldiers including a translator.

It added that US forces closed off the area following the explosion, with aircraft taking off to observe the surroundings while the deceased soldiers were transported to the US military base in the Shaddadi area in Hasakah province.

Colonel Wayne Marotto, the spokesman for the US’ Operation Inherent Resolve in Syria, announced in a tweet yesterday that the reports of “service members KIA [killed in action] in Syria today is false.” He confirmed that all of the soldiers “have been accounted for.”

The report of @CJTFOIR service members KIA in Syria today is false. All @CJTFOIR service members have been accounted for.

— OIR Spokesperson (@OIRSpox) November 8, 2020

READ: Syria soldier killed as 2 US helicopters attack army checkpoint, state media