US-led forces strike Syrian troops, prompting emergency UN meeting

US-led coalition airstrikes reportedly killed dozens of Syrian soldiers on Saturday, endangering a US-Russian brokered cease-fire and prompting an emergency UN Security Council meeting as tensions between Moscow and Washington escalated.

The United States military said the coalition stopped the attacks against what it had believed to be Islamic State positions in northeast Syria after Russia informed it that Syrian military personnel and vehicles may have been hit.

The US relayed its "regret" through the Russian government for what it described as the unintentional loss of life of Syrian forces in the strike, a senior White House official said in an emailed statement.