Syrian government says coalition hit army camp

The Syrian government on Monday said U.S.-led coalition airstrikes hit an army camp in the east of the country, killing three soldiers and wounding 13 others.

However Army Col. Steve Warren, a U.S. military spokesman, denied the Syrian government's claim, and said the coalition conducted four strikes against oil well heads miles from where Syria said the incident happened.

“Our strikes were approximately 55 kilometers (34 miles) south east of Ayyash," he said. "We did not strike any vehicles or personnel targets. We have no indication any Syrian soldiers were near our strikes."

Monitoring group, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says the camp is near the village of  Ayyash.

A coalition official said the Russians were responsible for the strike on the Syrian army camp. The official asked not to be named because he was not authorized to publicly discuss the issue.

The Russians say they have been conducting air strikes in Syria against extremist targets. The U.S. government have said the Russian strikes are aimed at propping up the government of Bashar al-Assad.

In a letter published in Syrian state media on Monday, the Syrian government said that four coalition aircraft targeted the camp in the city of Deir el-Zour on Sunday night.

It said a weapons and ammunition depot and vehicles were destroyed in the incident.

"This hampers efforts to combat terrorism and proves once again that this coalition lacks seriousness and credibility to effectively fight terrorism," the letter, which has been sent to the United Nations, said.

If confirmed, the attack would be the first time the coalition has hit Syrian government troops. Deir el-Zour is mainly held by ISIL but the Syrian government still holds parts of the city.

A U.S.-led coalition including Bahrain, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates has been conducting airstrikes against ISIL in Syria for the past year. France and Britain recently joined the bombing campaign.

Russia is also conducting airstrikes in the country, with the permission of Syrian President Bashar Assad.

Contributing: Jim Michaels, Associated Press