The US-led coalition fighting the Islamic State group has avoided involvement in Syria's civil war, but on Thursday it said it killed more than 100 pro-regime fighters in the country.<\/p>\n
The international coalition was set up in 2014 to drive IS from territories it controlled in Iraq and Syria.<\/p>\n
Washington has deployed 2,000 soldiers in Syria, mainly special forces, who support the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), an Arab-Kurdish coalition fighting the IS.<\/p>\n
- First air strikes -<\/p>\n
In September 2014, the US and Arab allies launch air strikes on the IS in Syria, opening a new front in the fight against the jihadist group, already targeted by raids in Iraq.<\/p>\n
- Support for Kurds -<\/p>\n
In October 2014 the US State Department reveals that American officials have met for the first time the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD).<\/p>\n
The PYD is the political branch of the People's Protection Units (YPG), which are Syria's main Kurdish militia.<\/p>\n
In January 2015 the Kurdish militia drives IS out of the Kurdish border town of Kobane, after more than four months of fighting backed by coalition air strikes.<\/p>\n
The militia becomes the spearhead on Syrian soil of the coalition's fight against the jihadists.<\/p>\n
- Errors -<\/p>\n
In September 2016, a string of coalition air strikes hit a Syrian army base, killing as many as 90 regime soldiers in the eastern region of Deir Ezzor.<\/p>\n
Washington says it believed it was targeting an IS position there, but Damascus says the strike was \"intentional\".<\/p>\n
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor has reported several mistakes by the coalition, which says it takes every precaution to avoid civilian casualties.<\/p>\n
- Pro-regime forces bombed -<\/p>\n
In April 2017 Syrian warplanes strike the rebel-held town of Khan Sheikhun in Idlib with chemical agent sarin, killing more than 80.<\/p>\n
On the night of April 6-7, the US military hits back by firing 59 Tomahawk missiles from warships in the Mediterranean at the central Shayrat airbase, which it says was the launchpad for the chemical attack.<\/p>\n
In May, coalition aircraft strike a pro-regime convoy as it approaches a training garrison near the Al-Tanf border crossing to Jordan. The US had chosen this town to train local Syrian forces to fight IS.<\/p>\n
In June a US warplane shoots down a Syrian jet for the first time after it bombs SDF fighters. Syrian ally Russia denounces the \"aggression\".<\/p>\n
- Arms for Kurds -<\/p>\n
In May 2017 the White House gives the Pentagon the green light to deliver weapons to the YPG.<\/p>\n
The decision provokes anger in Turkey, which says the YPG is linked to its own domestic Kurdish separatist group the PKK, or Kurdish Workers Party.<\/p>\n
It is the first time a US administration officially supplies arms to the Kurds, with the Americans having up until then saying they would only arm the Kurds' Arab allies.<\/p>\n
In October 2017 the Kurdish-Arab coalition drives IS out of its Syrian stronghold Raqa after months of fighting.<\/p>\n
- Pro-regime forces hit -<\/p>\n
On February 8, 2018, the coalition says it killed at least 100 pro-regime fighters to fend off an attack on its allies in eastern Syria.<\/p>\n
Syria brands the strikes, in Deir Ezzor province, a \"war crime\".<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The US-led coalition fighting the Islamic State group has avoided involvement in Syria's civil war, but on Thursday it said it killed more than 100 pro-regime fighters in the country. The international coalition was set up in 2014 to drive IS from territories it controlled in Iraq and Syria. Washington has deployed 2,000 soldiers in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":60,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[557],"tags":[],"ji_location":[2499],"class_list":["post-36375","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-other","ji_location-syria"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n