May admits United Kingdom role in coalition air attack on Syrian troops

It is understood Britain’s participation involved an unmanned RAF Reaper drone.

Currently, Australia’s contribution to the coalition operation involves F/A-18 Hornets, a high-tech Wedgetail command and control aircraft and an air-to-air refueling tanker.

Providing new details of the strikes, which complicated what has been a largely unsuccessful cease-fire agreement, Thomas said the USA military is appointing a brigadier general to investigate the incident.

The Prime Minister said the United Kingdom would co-operate with the investigation by the US-led coalition into the attack on Saturday near the eastern city of Deir el-Zour. “It would not be appropriate to comment further at this stage”, he added.

The UK carried out its first air strikes against IS in Syria in December 2015, after MPs overwhelmingly backed military action in a parliamentary vote.

USA airstrikes kill dozens of Syrian soldiers.

Syria’s president, Bashar al-Assad, described the attack as “flagrant aggression”.

Senator Payne declined to give any detail as to the nature of the RAAF’s involvement in the coalition mission that mistakenly targeted Syrian soldiers instead of Islamic State fighters as intended during a bombing raid in north-west Syria at the weekend.

“We did take a couple of days to look at it, to develop the target, and then the decision was made … that it was a good target after looking at all the intelligence and considering that”, Thomas said.

The incident lead to furious exchanges between Russian Federation and the U.S. at the United Nations, with the ambassadors of both countries storming out of an emergency session of the Security Council.

The U.S. and Russian Federation have suspended their military to military relationship, but have a channel to make sure their air forces don’t collide over Syria.

On Saturday, Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook said the coalition informed Russian Federation before the strike that it would be operating in the area.

“We regret the loss of life and injury to any Syrian personnel affected”, Turnbull told reporters in NY, where he will attend the annual United Nations genera assembly.

With the ceasefire in tatters, so too are any plans for the Americans and Russians to begin sharing operational information on ISIS and Jabhat Fateh al Sham (formerly known as Nusra Front, al Qaeda’s franchise in Syria) targets.

“You’ll find over the next little while no doubt arguments or issues about why there wasn’t more coordination or who was meant to be advising who”, he said.

He said it remained to be seen whether it impacted on the already brittle ceasefire.