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The February Battle between Russian Mercenaries and U.S. Commandos in Syria
(New York Times) Thomas Gibbons-Neff - A column of tanks led a four-hour assault on Feb. 7 by 500 pro-government forces on a small outpost in eastern Syria where 40 American soldiers were stationed. For the first 15 minutes, American military officials called their Russian counterparts and urged them to stop the attack. When that failed, American warplanes arrived in waves, while Marine rocket artillery was fired from the ground. In the end, 200 to 300 of the attacking fighters were killed by U.S. airstrikes. American military and intelligence officials said a majority were private Russian paramilitary mercenaries. "The Russian high command in Syria assured us it was not their people," Defense Secretary Jim Mattis testified last month. He said he directed "for the force, then, to be annihilated. And it was."