AUSTRALIA’S INVOLVEMENT
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said Australia regretted the loss of life and injuries to Syrian soldiers as the result of a bombing raid on Saturday.
The prime minister confirmed Australian aircraft were involved in the coalition exercise but pulled out when Russian officials advised the targets may have been Syrian military personnel.
“We regret the loss of life and injury to any Syrian personnel affected,” Mr Turnbull told reporters overnight in New York, where he is for the annual United Nations General Assembly.
He said Australia’s rules of engagement were to target IS but it is a very complex environment.
“You’ll find over the next little while no doubt arguments or issues about why there wasn’t more co-ordination or who was meant to be advising who,” he said.
Mr Turnbull admitted it remains to be seen whether the Syrian ceasefire will be put in jeopardy.
Speaking on Radio National this morning, the Lowy Institute’s Middle East expert Rodger Shanahan said Australia’s exact role in the bungle remained unclear.
Media reports have emerged that show F16s and A10s were in the air space at the time of Saturday’s raid, but Australia doesn’t have those aircraft as part of our fleet in the Middle East.
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