Syrian state media says US hit army posts, US denies

BEIRUT: Syrian state media reported that the US -led coalition fighting Islamic State struck Syrian army positions in eastern Syria early on Thursday, but the US military denied knowledge of it.

Islamic State lost most of its territory in Syria last year, but retained some remote desert areas and has attacked the army and allied forces in recent weeks. The coalition also recently restarted its own campaign against the jihadist group in Syria. “Some of our military sites between Albu Kamal and Humeima were exposed at dawn today to aggression launched by US coalition jets,” state news agency SANA reported, citing a military source.

The strikes caused only material damage and came within 24 hours of an Islamic State attack on Syrian army positions in the same region, SANA reported. A military media unit run by Lebanon´s Hezbollah, an ally of Damascus, said the strikes were near T2, an energy installation near the border with Iraq about 100 km (60 miles) west of the Euphrates.

A US military official denied any knowledge of the strikes. “We have no operational reporting of a US -led coalition strike against pro-Syrian regime targets or forces,” Captain Bill Urban, a spokesman for US Central Command, told Reuters.

Another Pentagon spokesman, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said: “We have no information to substantiate those reports. “Eastern Syria was mostly held by Islamic State until last year, when two rival military campaigns swept it from most of its territory, leaving only remnants in remote pockets of the desert.