# Battle of Khasham On the night of **February 7–8, 2018**, roughly 500 pro-Assad fighters — Syrian government units, local and foreign Shia militias, and reportedly [[Wagner Group]] contractors with T-72 tanks — attacked a Syrian Democratic Forces headquarters near the Conoco gas plant in [[Syria]]'s Deir ez-Zor province, where US special forces were present. US aircraft, artillery and gunships struck the column for about four hours. It is widely described as the deadliest direct clash between American forces and Russian nationals since the Cold War. ## The deniability test Russia's Defence Ministry said no Russian service members were in the area — technically true, because Wagner's men were not service members. Defense Secretary Mattis said US deconfliction contacts had told Washington no Russians were in the attacking formation. Moscow later conceded that Russian and other CIS "citizens" had been killed or wounded. Khasham is the clearest case of [[Plausible Deniability]] costing the deniable force: the state disowned its own men in order to avoid a confrontation with the United States. ## How many died Estimates run from about ten to several hundred. Then-CIA director [[Mike Pompeo]] told a Senate hearing in April 2018 that "a couple hundred Russians were killed." Reuters sources gave 80–100 killed and 200 wounded; Der Spiegel, 10–20 Russians; Wagner commander [[Andrei Troshev]], 14. The Washington Post (Feb 22, 2018) reported US intercepts in which [[Yevgeny Prigozhin]], in contact with Syrian officials beforehand, said he had "secured permission" for the move. ## See Also - [[Wagner Group]] · [[Syria]] · [[Plausible Deniability]] · [[Private Military Company]]