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What happened near Khasham on 8 February 2018?
Summary
A look back at a ground assault by pro-government forces on a Syrian Democratic Forces headquarters in Deir ez-Zor, and the US strikes reported around it.
What happened near the Syrian town of Khasham on 8 February 2018? In the Deir ez-Zor Governorate, a force of about 500 pro-government troops, backed by tanks and artillery, launched a ground assault on a local headquarters of the Syrian Democratic Forces. The clash became known as the Battle of Khasham.
More than 100 Syrian government fighters were killed, among them Russian private military contractors of the Wagner Group.
The fighting was linked to US strikes reported a day earlier. On 7 February 2018, United States Central Command said it had killed more than 100 pro-government troops in what it called self-defence strikes. It placed them 8 kilometres (5 miles) east of the Euphrates de-confliction line, which had reportedly been agreed with Russia.
Taken together, the reports describe a pro-government attack on a Syrian Democratic Forces position in Deir ez-Zor, a heavy death toll among the attackers and the presence of Russian contractors among the dead.
