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1st LD Writethru: UN Security Council to hold emergency session on Syria, diplomatic sources say

Xinhua, September 18, 2016 Adjust font size:

The UN Security Council will hold an emergency meeting on Saturday evening on Syria after the U.S.-led coalition staged airstrikes on Syrian military positions, diplomatic sources told Xinhua.

The meeting is scheduled to start at 19:30 EDT (2330 GMT) at the request of the Russian Federation, one of the five permanent members of the 15-nation UN council, the sources said.

"The meeting will take place behind closed doors," the sources said.

The Russian Defense Ministry said earlier Saturday the U.S.-led coalition killed 62 Syrian government troops and injured some 100 others in a round of airstrikes in eastern Syria's province of Deir al-Zour.

"Today, in areas close to the Deir al-Zour Airport, the aircraft from the international anti-Islamic State coalition carried out four airstrikes against units of the Syrian government troops surrounded by terrorists," the ministry's spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said in a statement.

The warplanes entered the airspace of Syria from the Iraqi border, the spokesman said.

The U.S. Defense Ministry said on Saturday that a U.S.-led coalition airstrike against the Islamic State may have unintentionally targeted Syrian government forces.

"Coalition forces believed they were striking a Daesh fighting position," said a Pentagon statement, referring to the extremist group in its Arabic acronym.

The general command of the Syrian army accused the U.S. of supporting the IS in the attack in Deir al-Zour.

The Russian Defense Ministry said the U.S.-led air raids enabled the IS to capture al-Tharda Mountain.

The incident marks the first U.S.-led attack on a government forces' positions since the coalition started striking IS positions in Syria in 2014. Endit