The F-15E Strike Eagle shot down the Shaheed-129 drone that was connected with Syrian government forces, the Pentagon said about the incident, according to USA Today.
Syrian government troops and their allies have steadily positioned themselves in key areas on the flanks of the US -led coalition battle for the Islamic State's self-declared capital of Raqqa.
The US said it took the action to defend the USA -backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a rebel group fighting ISIS on the outskirts of Raqqa in the northeast.
It also comes after an American F/A-18E Super Hornet fighter jet shot down a Syrian SU-22 fighter-bomber Sunday in northern Syria as it "dropped bombs" near the Syrian Democratic Forces, a US-backed alliance fighting IS.
A USA warplane destroyed an armed Syrian drone after American forces said it "displayed hostile intent and advanced on coalition forces", the US military said.
The news from Australia, one of the coalition partners fighting ISIS in Syria, was described as a blow for the USA, putting it in a "very hard position" at a critical time as the battle to liberate the ISIS stronghold of Raqqa continues. Russia, which has been Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's most powerful backer, condemned the downing of the plane.
"They were threatening our forces on the ground", the U.S. official quoted by AFP said.
Despite bouts of relative calm, the pro-Assad Iranian-backed forces have continued to encroach, at one point moving along the periphery of the deconfliction area to the Iraqi border and driving a wedge between Tanf and the Euphrates River Valley. It is still unclear what the missiles struck, and Iran has provided few details.
"The Syrian regime ... needs to understand that we will keep the right of self-defense of coalition forces aligned against ISIS", he said.
Saudi royals to make pledge to new crown prince
The newly announced Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman heads an economic council tasked with overhauling the country's economy. That's something closely followed by fund managers and could mean a lot more foreign investment coming into the kingdom.
Syrian opposition activists say a truce that went into effect three days ago in the southern city of Daraa has collapsed amid a government offensive near the Jordanian border.
In Syria's complex civil war, the USA backs some rebel groups opposed to President Assad, as well as fighters seeking to drive out the Islamic State (IS) group.
A Syrian military official in Damascus said the truce was not extended. He spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations. He is blaming the government for the truce's collapse.
Russian Federation threatened aircraft from the US -led coalition in Syrian-controlled airspace and suspended a hotline meant to avoid collisions in retaliation for the USA military shooting down a Syrian warplane on Sunday. "You are not just fighting Bashar al-Assad", he noted. The conflict quickly descended into a civil war, which has since left at least 400,000 people dead.
A Western intelligence source said it was "unquestionably Iranian".
Russian Federation condemned the action and said it would sever the deconfliction line.
With pro-Syrian government forces now between USA -backed fighters at Tanf and predominantly Islamic State-controlled areas, any future offensive in the area will be hard.
In what it called a "precautionary measure", Australia became the first coalition member to suspend flights in Syria, claiming it's too unsafe for its planes to fly without the agreement, according to BBC.
Retaking Deir el-Zour would help Assad secure access to natural gas and mineral resources, and open a potentially lucrative corridor to nearby Iraq.
Comments