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Danish F-16s part of attack that allegedly hit Syrian forces

The Local Denmark
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Danish F-16s part of attack that allegedly hit Syrian forces
Two Danish F-16s were part of the attack that reportedly struck and killed Syrian military forces. Photo: HENNING BAGGER/Scanpix

Two Danish F-16s were part of a US-led coalition attack that Russia says killed dozens of Syrian military forces, the Danish military has confirmed.

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The coalition mission took place on September 17th and targeted what was believed to be Islamic State forces. However, the Russian Defense Ministry said that 62 members of the Syrian military forces were killed in the bombing. 
 
Defence Command Denmark, the command centre for the Danish armed forces, released a short statement on Sunday night confirming that Danish fighter jets were part of the mission. 
 
“Two Danish F-16s participated along with other nations’ aircraft in these attacks. The attack was immediately stopped when a report from the Russian side said that a Syrian military position had been hit,” the statement read. 
 
“It is of course unfortunate if the coalition mistakenly struck anything other than ISIL forces,” the statement continued. 
 
The US Central Command released a statement saying that the coalition forces “would not intentionally strike a known Syrian military unit”. 
 
“The coalition will review this strike and the circumstances surrounding it to see if any lessons can be learned,” the statement said. 
 
Defence Command Denmark said that it would fully cooperate with the investigation into the incident. 
 
Danish military jets began bombing Islamic State targets within Syria in August after parliament approved expanding Denmark’s military efforts in the area.
 
Denmark has been part of the international coalition fighting the Islamic State since October 2014 but it had initially contained its military action to northern Iraq
 

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