4 U.S. troops injured in Syria after collision with Russian vehicle

Four U.S. troops were injured from a collision incident with a Russian military vehicle in Syria on Tuesday, reported Xinhua on Wednesday, quoting U.S. media.

POLITICO reported that four troops had been diagnosed with mild concussion-like symptoms after the incident, according to a draft statement by U.S. Central Command.

The statement said that the Russian vehicles unsafely pursued U.S. forces and a Russian vehicle intentionally rammed a coalition vehicle, leading to four U.S. troops injured.

Videos of the encounter that emerged on Twitter showed that U.S. and Russian vehicles were chasing and attempting to block the path of each other, with Russian helicopters overhead.

Pentagon declined to comment or confirm the videos.

Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, called his Russian counterpart Valery Gerasimov on Wednesday.

"In accordance with past practice, both have agreed to keep the specific details of their conversation private," said DeDe Halfhill, the spokesperson for the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Kenneth Ekman, deputy commander of Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve, said last month that U.S. troops in Syria interact with Russians almost every day and most of the interactions are not contentious.

U.S. media reported that about 500 U.S. troops were deployed in the northeastern part of Syria to fight against remnants of the Islamic State and secure the oil fields operated by Kurdish forces.