USA forces in southern Syria have shot down an Iranian-made armed drone in the second such incident in 12 days, in a further sign that Washington and Tehran's agendas are colliding along the Syrian-Iraqi desert frontier.
A U.S. F-15E Strike Eagle shot down the Shaheed-129 UAV at approximately 12:30 a.m.
"The coalition does not seek to fight Syrian regime, Russian, or pro-regime forces partnered with them, but will not hesitate to defend coalition or partner forces from any threat".
In the latest escalation between the US and the forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar Assad, a U.S. F-15 fighter jet shot down an Iranian drone over southern Syria on Tuesday. Russian Federation backs Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, whom Iran also supports, while the USA -led coalition is aligned with groups that oppose the Assad regime and ISIS.
Australia's military on Tuesday said it was temporarily halting air missions over Syria, following the shooting down of a Syrian jet by United States forces.
Russian Federation had warned Monday that it would track coalition aircraft in missions west of the Euphrates with missile systems and military aircraft, but stopped short of saying it would down them.
U.S.' downing of the Iranian drone came on the same day when Australia announced it is temporarily suspending airstrikes by its forces in Syria after a threat from Russian Federation.
Is it just rhetoric or does Moscow want to deny certain areas of Syrian airspace to US-led coalition aircraft? Russian Federation condemned the USA action and in retaliation suspended a hotline meant to prevent such incidents.
The Australian Defense Force's name for its effort to fight ISIS is Operation OKRA.
The U.S. -allied forces are using the base to train for battle and stage attacks against the Islamic State (IS) extremist group.
The Sirius XM Holdings Inc
Zacks' earnings per share calculations are a mean average based on a survey of research analysts that follow Sirius XM Holdings. TRADEMARK VIOLATION WARNING: This piece was originally reported by Markets Daily and is owned by of Markets Daily.
Australia confirmed that operations in Iraq would continue.
Tensions escalated on Sunday as the U.S. military brought down a Syrian military jet near Raqqa for bombing near US-allied forces on the ground, the first time Washington had carried out such an action in the multi-pronged civil war. The Iranian drone that was shot down Tuesday was outside of the deconfliction area, the official said.
The drone was thought to be armed and threatening US-led coalition troops on the ground, officials said.
A spokesman for Iran's Revolutionary Guard, General Ramazan Sharif, said all six ballistic missiles hit their targets, according to "local sources and drone films".
Spicer added that the USA wants to de-escalate the situation in Syria "but will always preserve the right of self-defense".
On several occasions in recent weeks, warplanes of the US -led coalition have also struck pro-government forces to prevent them from advancing in the region.
Sharif says the missile launch reflects Iran's "military power" though Iran has no intention of starting another war.
The dispute over the Syrian attack on the US -backed fighters and the American response came as Iran launched ballistic missiles at Islamic State strongholds in eastern Syria in retaliation for a pair of attacks by extremists in Tehran earlier this month that killed 17 people.
The strikes are the first time Iran has fired missiles at another country in three decades and represent a major escalation of Iran's role in the war in Syria.
Comments