The U.S. military shot down an armed Syrian government-operated drone Tuesday after it was seen "advancing on coalition forces" and displaying "hostile intent", U.S. Central Command said in a statement.
The drone was thought to be armed and threatening United States troops on the ground, officials said. "When the armed UAV continued to advance on the Coalition position without diverting its course it was shot down", the statement said.
It is the second downing of a pro-regime drone in the area and comes amid heightened tensions in the region following the US shootdown of a Syrian fighter jet.
It also comes as the USA military announced officially that coalition forces had killed the Islamic State's top cleric, Turki al-Binali, in an air strike in Syria last month.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that "all countries must fully respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Syria" but the BBC's Steve Rosenberg in Moscow says that, given Russia is such a staunch supporter of President Bashar al-Assad, this is a muted response.
Russian Federation responded by saying its surface-to-air missile systems in Syria would hereby track manned and unmanned aircraft from the USA -led anti-ISIS coalition if they go west of the Euphrates River.
"As a precautionary measure, Australian Defence Force (ADF) strike operations into Syria have temporarily ceased", a Defence Department spokesman told dpa via email.
The United States continues to maintain its end of the deconfliction line with Russian Federation for operations in Syria and would want to continue communications, US Department of Defense spokesperson Capt. Jeff Davis said in a briefing on Tuesday.
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A United States military official told AFP that an F-15 Strike Eagle jet destroyed the Shahed 129 drone around 12:30am local time northeast of the At-Tanf garrison, which is close to the Jordanian border.
The incident follows the US downing of a piloted Syrian Army jet near Raqqa after it dropped bombs near USA -backed forces over the weekend, an incident that prompted a warning from Syria ally Russian Federation.
The competition between the Syrian army and the militias and US-backed Free Syrian Army rebels has stepped up in the Badia desert that stretches to the Iraqi border after IS abandoned large swathes of territory as it defends Raqqa and Deir Zor.
Two days earlier, a U.S. Navy F/A-18 warplane shot down a Syrian Air Force Su-22 attacking U.S. -backed forces near Raqqa, the Islamic State's de facto capital.
Iran says it attacked IS fighters in eastern Syria with long-range missiles on Sunday.
It was not known what exactly was hit and Iran has provided no details.
"They were threatening our forces on the ground", the USA official quoted by AFP said.
The UK, another key coalition ally, said it would continue to take part in air operations despite Russia's warning.
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