Coalition denies air strike on Syrian army camp: media

Coalition spokesman Colonel Steve Warren denied it was responsible for the incident following the Syrian Foreign Ministry's condemnation of "aggression" which "blatantly violates the objectives of the UN Charter," accoding to BBC News.

"We've seen those Syrian reports but we did not conduct any strikes in that part of Deir al-Zour yesterday. So we see no evidence," he told the AFP news agency, BBC reports.

Col Warren said the only strikes in Deir al-Zour targeted a wellhead at an oil field 55km (34 miles) away from the area where the soldiers were reportedly killed.

"There were no human beings in the area that we struck yesterday," he added.

IS controls most of Deir al-Zour province, including almost all of its capital.

The province links the group's headquarters in Raqqa with territory controlled by the group in western Iraq, and its oilfields are also a major source of revenue for IS.

If coalition jets did hit the Syrian army camp — reported to be close to ground held by IS — it would be the first time such a thing is known to have happened since the U.S. began air strikes in Syria, says the BBC's Jim Muir in Beirut.

The coalition has been stepping up its attacks in recent weeks on IS positions and oil installations in northern and eastern Syria. Broadening the scope brings with it a risk that unintended targets might be hit, our correspondent adds.

Last week, the UK decided to participate in the air strikes in Syria, extending its existing bombing campaign against IS in Iraq.

The Syrian Foreign Ministry condemned the airstrike it claims has been conducted by the Coalition forces resulting in casualties among Syrian soldiers. UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported four deaths in an attack.