U.S.-led coalition kills estimated 100 pro-Assad troops in Syria

American troops look out toward the border with Turkey from a small outpost near the town of Manbij, northern Syria, Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2018.  (SUSANNAH GEORGE/AP)

A U.S.-led coalition in Syria killed more than 100 troops allied with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Wednesday.

The coalition launched air and artillery strikes in response to an “unprovoked attack” on a compound where rebel fighters were being trained by Americans in Khusham, Syria.

U.S. troops were embedded with the Syrian Democratic Forces in Syria’s Deir al-Zor province when approximately 500 pro-regime troops attacked with tanks, mortar fire, and artillery.

The forces were “likely seeking to seize oilfields in Khusham that had been a major source of revenue for Daesh from 2014 to 2017,” according to an official who spoke to Reuters.

The coalition responded with targeted air and artillery strikes, killing an estimated 100 pro-regime forces, the official said.

While one SDF fighter was injured, no American troops were killed or wounded in the incident, the official said.