Forces from a US-led coalition fighting IS in Syria and Iraq are using a garrison in Al-Tanf to stage attacks against the armed group and train Syrian rebels to fight them.
Russia's Ministry of Defense reported on Friday that pro-government forces circled around USA military advisers in eastern Syria to reach the Iraqi border, dealing what could be a major blow to the declared US mission to defeat Islamic State militants in the desert region.
The U.S. military thanked Russian Federation on Friday for intervening with the Syrian regime to ease tensions with U.S. -backed rebel forces on the Jordanian border.
Iraqi Security Forces are slowly advancing against the remnants of ISIS fighters at a rate of about 100 meters per day, Davis said.
Although annually practised since 2010, the troop build-up raised eyebrows in Iran, where generals saw it as a prelude to a massive operation by the Jordanian Army, aimed at carving a safe zone out of southern Syria and taking the remainder of the Syrian- Iraqi border.
"What you're seeing now.is the cutting off of access of coalition-led efforts to push north", Aljazeera's Stefanie Dekker, reporting from Gaziantep on the Turkish-Syrian border, said.
Asked about the Syrian government's advance, the US-led coalition expressed concern.
The area has been the scene of repeated incidents between US-led forces and pro-regime troops, including on Thursday when a USA warplane shot down a pro-regime drone near the area.
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"As long as pro-regime forces are oriented toward coalition and partnered forces, the potential for conflict is escalated", it added.
US aircraft also attacked and destroyed two vehicles that were headed to a camp set up by pro-regime forces, Davis said.
The Pentagon credited Syria government ally Russian Federation with helping to calm tensions.
The drone on Thursday fired what later turned out to be a dud bomb.
The Pentagon has not said who was operating the drone, but the area near Al-Tanf has seen a surge in activity by Iran-backed troops loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
The US has declared the surrounding 55 kilometers around the southeastern town of al-Tanf a de-confliction zone, in which only forces allied to Washington are allowed entry.
Syria's government has been eager to reach the eastern border after recapturing territory in central Homs province once held by ISIL, which stands for Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, and is also known as ISIS.
The seizure of the border and road has also prevented the US-backed forces from launching an anticipated offensive on Deir az-Zor, with the provincial capital held by the jihadis while a regime enclave in the city is supplied by air.
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