The military official said the truck caught fire with an explosion from unfired rockets at the same time as warplanes were in the sky.
“We can’t confirm that the truck was bombed by US warplanes unless we investigate it,” said a military official on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the incident.
Iraqi security forces were deployed in the area and launched a hunt for the perpetrators who fled the area using another vehicle, said a security official who is based in Zummar.
Biden hosts Iraqi leader after Iran’s Israel attack throws Middle East into uncertainty
Biden hosts Iraqi leader after Iran’s Israel attack throws Middle East into uncertainty
An army officer said the truck was seized for further investigation and initial investigation shows that it was destroyed by an air strike.
“We are communicating with the coalition forces in Iraq to share information on this attack,” the officer added.
The US was among the first to cut ties with Assad over the repression of anti-government protests that sparked war in 2011, and many Western and Arab states also severed relations.
However last year Syria returned to the Arab fold, seeking better ties with wealthy US-allied Gulf states, in the hope they can help fund reconstruction – although Western sanctions are likely to deter investment.
“America is currently illegally occupying part of our lands … but we meet with them from time to time, although these meetings do not lead to anything,” Assad said in an interview with a Russian-backed official from Georgia’s breakaway region of Abkhazia, published by Syria’s official Sana news agency.
Assad did not give further details about who was involved in the meetings, or what was discussed.
“There is always hope: even when we know there will be no results we must try,” he said when asked about the possibility of mending ties with the West.
03:47
World leaders call for de-escalation after Iran launches air attack on Israel
World leaders call for de-escalation after Iran launches air attack on Israel
After war broke out, the United States imposed a slew of sanctions on Syria – which had already been a pariah state in the West under Assad’s father Hafez.
In 2020, a US law known as the Caesar Act came into force that punishes any companies that work with Assad.
The Caesar Act, accompanied by a slew of US sanctions on Syrians close to Assad, aimed to force accountability for human rights abuses and to encourage a political solution.
Israel’s chief of staff approves continuation of war in Gaza
Israel’s chief of staff approves continuation of war in Gaza
Damascus accuses Kurdish authorities, which control most of the country’s major oilfields, of separatism. It accuses them of being traitors because of their close US ties.
In 2022, Biden had accused Syria of holding American journalist Austin Tice, abducted more than a decade ago in Damascus, and called on Syria’s government to help secure his release.
The Syrian foreign ministry denied holding Americans, including Tice.
Tice was a freelance photojournalist working for Agence France-Presse, McClatchy News, The Washington Post, CBS and other news organisations when he was detained at a checkpoint near Damascus on August 14, 2012.
Additional reporting by Agence France-Presse