Great Game of 21st century back on in Syria as US forces ‘clash with Russians’

America’s war on Islamic State is pretty much over. But for all the sound and fury, that was never much more than a sideshow; now the main event is back on.

Four years ago, before the rise of Isis and as Russian, American and Iranian proxy forces fought each other, Syria’s civil war was shaping up to be a 21st-century version of the Great Game. On Wednesday night, it wasn’t just proxy forces but, so it is reported, real live Americans, Russians and Iranians who came to blows in the desert.