The Pentagon says a U.S. Air Force F-15 shot down an armed Iranian drone in southern Syria early Tuesday morning after it flew too close to U.S. -backed fighters.
Russia's Defense Ministry warned Monday that it would treat USA aircraft operating in Syria as "air targets" for surface-to-air missile systems it has installed to support forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in his war against jihadis and various rebel groups attempting to overthrow his government.
And on Monday, a USA fighter jet shot down a pro-Syrian regime drone in southeastern Syria.
It was the second drone presumed to be flown by the Syrian regime to have been shot down in less than a month in the same area.
Tanf is the town on Syrian border with Jordan where United States troops are training Syrian rebels, officially described as "partner ground forces".
But their presence there has led to a series of confrontations with pro-regime forces, including on June 8 when a USA plane also downed a drone after it dropped munitions near Al-Tanaf.
Russian Federation on Monday said that it was closing the communication line after a U.S. F-18 Super Hornet downed a Syrian government SU-22 fighter-bomber on Sunday.
US shoots down another pro-regime drone in Syria
The US on Tuesday shot down an Iranian-made drone in Syria, a day after Russian Federation warned against escalation. Navy F/A-18 warplane shot down a Syrian Air Force Su-22 that had dropped bombs near Syrian opposition forces.
As well as announcing that US-led coalition warplanes would be tracked, Russia's ministry of defence suspended a hotline set up to avoid clashes between USA and Russian aircraft over Syria. Moscow has accused the USA of not using the hotline to prevent the Raqqa incident.
The official was not authorized to be quoted by name and spoke on condition of anonymity.
Douglas E. Lute, a retired Army general told The New York Times, "Anytime we have multiple armed forces working in the same battle space without de-confliction, there is a risky risk of things spinning out of control". "U.S. -led forces should take all feasible precautions to minimize civilian harm when using white phosphorus in Iraq and Syria", he said. The truce was meant to be extended but now appears to have collapsed. "That would be another mistake on the scope of the Iraq War", he said.
"The situation is back as it was in Daraa city and fighting is ongoing", said Daraa-based opposition activist Ahmad al-Masalmeh. It said government helicopters dropped 55 barrel bombs on Daraa while warplanes carried out about 20 airstrikes.
The rising tensions prompted Australia to announce it was suspending its participation in air missions over Syria as part of the US-led coalition fighting the Islamic State group.
More than 320,000 people have been killed since Syria's conflict began with anti-government demonstrations in March 2011. Also, Iran fired several ballistic missiles Sunday night at IS positions in eastern Syria.
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