At least four Russian nationals, and perhaps dozens more, were killed in fighting between pro-government forces in eastern Syria and members of the United States-led coalition fighting Daesh, Russian and Syrian officials reported. 

A Syrian military officer said about 100 Syrian soldiers had been killed in the fighting on February 7 and 8, but news about Russian casualties has dribbled out only slowly, through Russian news organizations and social media, New York Times reported. 

For reasons that remain unclear, Syrian government troops and some Russian nationals appear to have attacked a coalition position, near Al Tabiyeh, Syria, reported New York Times. 

The attack occurred in the vicinity of Deir al-Zour, a strategic, oil-rich territory that is coveted by the Syrians. 

Most of the fatalities were attributed to an American airstrike on enemy columns that was called in by American-backed Kurdish soldiers who believed they were under attack.

Meanwhile, Reuters reported that a US military drone aircraft destroyed a Russian-made T-72 tank in Syria over the weekend, US officials said on Tuesday, in the second defensive strike against pro-Syrian government forces in less than a week.

The report said that no US-led coalition or coalition-backed local forces were killed in the strike by a US MQ-9 Reaper drone, which took place near Al Tabiyeh, Syria, on Sunday.

Lieutenant General Jeffrey Harrigian, top US Air Force general in the Middle East, declined in a briefing with reporters to speculate on who was driving the tank, reported Reuters. 

One US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said at least two pro-Syrian government forces were killed.

The US military said it destroyed the tank after it moved within firing range of the US-backed forces while being supported by artillery fire.

The US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis played down the incident, saying: “This could just be a local couple of guys doing something. I don’t want to dignify it as a big attack.”

The strike came less than a week after a major clash with pro-Syrian government forces and coalition forces overnight between February 7 and 8 that is thought to have left 100 or more of the pro-Syrian government personnel dead, according to the Reuters report.

The US-led coalition said it repelled that attack near the Euphrates River by hundreds of troops aligned with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who were backed by artillery, tanks, multiple-launch rocket systems and mortars.