UNITED NATIONS - The UN Security Council will hold an emergency meeting on Saturday evening on Syria after the U.S.-led coalition staged airstrikes on Syrian military positions, diplomatic sources told Xinhua.
The meeting is scheduled to start at 19:30 EDT (2330 GMT) at the request of the Russian Federation, one of the five permanent members of the 15-nation UN council, the sources said.
"The meeting will take place behind closed doors," the sources said.
The Russian Defense Ministry said earlier Saturday the U.S.-led coalition killed 62 Syrian government troops and injured some 100 others in a round of airstrikes in eastern Syria's province of Deir al-Zour.
"Today, in areas close to the Deir al-Zour Airport, the aircraft from the international anti-Islamic State coalition carried out four airstrikes against units of the Syrian government troops surrounded by terrorists," the ministry's spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said in a statement.