US fighter jets scrambled against Syrian warplanes over Hassakeh

A confrontation between American and Syrian fighter jets was narrowly avoided on Thursday, the US military says.

Residents of the north-eastern Syrian city, which is mainly under the control of the Kurdish YPG militia, told news media that government warplanes had been attacking Kurdish districts in the city for the second day running on Friday. Thousands are reported to have been displaced by the attacks.

US aircrews were "scrambled" - quickly launched from a state of readiness- to defend some special forces soldiers that were in the area, but did not have to engage in combat because the Syrian planes turned and left as they arrived. Much of Hassakeh is controlled a Kurdish militia, the YPG.

The Pentagon said the Syrian aircraft were leaving the airspace over the Syrian city of Hassakeh as its warplanes arrived.

There are 300 US special forces in Syria, assisting local militias, including the YPG, in the fight against so-called Islamic State (IS).

Although no weapons were fired, the incident is remarkable in that the US forces felt the Syrian jets to be enough of a threat to US personnel on the ground for the coalition's military apparatus to swing into action. It is thought to be the first time this has happened.

He said the strikes "did not directly impact our forces" but they were "close enough that it gives us great pause".

In a statement on Syrian state TV on Friday evening, the general command of the Syrian army accused Kurdish forces of "attacking state institutions, stealing oil and cotton, obstructing exams, kidnapping unarmed civilians and spreading chaos and instability".

These actions required an appropriate response from the army, the statement said.