Written by Danny for TerminalCWO
What Happened?
On August 17, 2020, a Coalition Forces (CF) led patrol engaged in small arms fire with pro-Syrian regime forces at a checkpoint near Tal Al-Zahab, Syria. A platoon of US Soldiers was conducting a routine, anti-ISIS patrol when they were stopped at the checkpoint.
🔴On 8/17, @CJTFOIR & @cmoc_sdf, conducting a routine anti-ISIS security patrol near Tal Al-Zahab, encountered a checkpoint occupied by pro-Syrian regime forces…the patrol [was attacked]. Coalition troops returned fire in self-defense. No Coalition casualties. Full Statement 👇🏽 pic.twitter.com/3qWFrZh1wR
— OIR Spokesman Col. Wayne Marotto (@OIRSpox) August 17, 2020
The engagement was captured on video from a distance, though details of what took place are difficult to make out.
video showing the clash between the Syrian army & U.S. occupation forces during the passage of the U.S. Patrol at army checkpoint in Tal Al-Dahab in the countryside of Qamishli; Later, 2 US helicopters bombed the checkpoint A soldier martyred, & 2 injured. Video-@khalediskef pic.twitter.com/fgib5jNKaw
— Suribelle (@Suribelle1) August 17, 2020
The incident was covered by CBS news and published on the same day of the attack. They reported an airstrike was conducted by CF and linked the twitter post with pictures of the destroyed checkpoint. CF denied conducting an airstrike despite Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) and the Syrian regime stating otherwise.
صور للحاجز الجيش السوري الذي تم استهدافه من قبل طيران التحالف الدولي في قرية تل الذهب الواقعة بالقرب من ناحية تل براك جنوب مدينة قامشلو/قامشلي. pic.twitter.com/U5aSV5COKK
— roj ava (@SRRSLqHbYTuh566) August 17, 2020
The article on United American Patriots website states that SFC Robert Nicoson and 16 soldiers were attacked by a complex ambush during combat operations in Syria after being waved through a checkpoint. As 9-12 hostile personnel began their attack on the Americans, the gunner on SFC Nicoson’s vehicle began to return fire. Realizing the gunner would need to perform a reload on his crew served weapon, SFC Nicoson and one other enlisted soldier dismounted and exposed themselves multiple times to heavy and sustained enemy fire to draw attention away from the vehicle.
Once the majority of hostile forces were neutralized and sustained hostile fire became more sporadic, SFC Nicoson made sure all of his troops were in their vehicles, and they broke contact. The 10-minute active firefight caused damage to the convoy vehicles and resulted in at least one enemy combatant being killed. While there were Apache helicopters overhead, they were not authorized to engage.
Fallout from the attack
SFC Nicoson was initially written up for a Bronze Star with valor for his actions. The situation quickly changed, and his chain of command (CoC) claimed he disobeyed orders and was not supposed to be at the checkpoint. He was removed from his duty position, and his security clearance was suspended. On April 8, 2021, SFC Nicoson was officially charged with two counts of failure to follow a lawful order, two counts of reckless endangerment, one count of wrongful communication, and three counts of obstruction of justice.
UAP claims the pentagon used the enemy propaganda Twitter account to gather information on the incident and arrive at the conclusion that SFC Nicoson was responsible for the engagement.
Read the full article at TerminalCWO
