The U.S. on Tuesday accused the Syrian military of carrying out air strikes to help Islamic State (IS) fighters advance around the northern city of Aleppo.
The accusation is contained in a social medium messages posted by the U.S. Embassy in Syria.
IS fighters pushed back rival insurgents north of Aleppo on Sunday near the Turkish border, threatening their supply route to the city, fighters and a group monitoring the war said.
Fighters from Levant Front, a northern alliance which includes Western-backed rebels and Islamist fighters, said they were worried IS was heading for the Bab al-Salam crossing between Aleppo and the Turkish province of Kilis.
“Reports indicate that the regime is making air strikes in support of ISIL’s advance on Aleppo, aiding extremists against Syrian population,” the message posted late on Monday, using an acronym for Islamic State.
Syrian officials have previously dismissed as nonsense allegations by Washington and Syrian opposition activists that the Syrian military has helped IS’ fight against rival Syrian insurgent forces.
“The Syrian army is fighting Islamic State in all areas where it is present in Syria,” a military source said.
The U.S. suspended operations in its embassy in Damascus in 2012 but still publishes messages on the embassy’s social media feed.
The account said Syrian President, Bashar al-Assad, had long lost legitimacy and “will never be an effective counterterrorism partner.”
Assad and Syrian officials have frequently called for international cooperation to fight jihadists in Syria.
Damascus has described all insurgents fighting against it as foreign-backed “terrorist organisations.”
State news agency SANA said on Tuesday the military had “eliminated” a number of IS fighters in the Aleppo countryside, adding that air strikes had destroyed some of the group’s vehicles.
But the U.S. social media message claimed Damascus had a hand in promoting IS, an al Qaeda offshoot which has seized land in Syria and Iraq.
“With these latest reports, (the military) is not only avoiding ISIL lines, but, actively seeking to bolster their position,” it said.
Syria has accused its regional enemies of backing hardline insurgent groups.
