Russia says US failed to provide Syrian opposition locations

The Russian military has rejected the Pentagon's accusations that it targeted US-backed Syrian opposition forces, saying the US failed to warn about their locations.
Russian Defence Ministry spokesman, Maj Gen Igor Konashenkov, said the area targeted in Thursday's strike was 300 kilometres away from locations earlier designated by the US as controlled by legitimate opposition forces. The Pentagon said Russian warplanes struck Syrian opposition forces fighting the Islamic State group in At-Tanf.
Konashenkov said in today's statement that the Russian military had warned the US in advance about the planned strike, but the Pentagon had failed to provide coordinates of legitimate opposition forces.

On a conciliatory note, he added that yesterday's video conference with the Pentagon was "constructive," reflecting a shared desire to improve coordination and avoid incidents.