A U.S. F-15 fighter aircraft shot down an Iranian-made drone over southern Syria on Tuesday, the Defense Department said, marking the fifth time the USA has attacked pro-Syrian government assets within a month.
The U.S. action also comes two days after a U.S. warplane shot down a Syrian plane that was attacking U.S. -backed forces near Raqqa, the Islamic State's de facto capital.
The US-led anti-ISIL coalition said an F-15E Strike Eagle jet destroyed the Shaheed-129 drone around 12.30am, north-east of the Al Tanaf garrison which is close to the Jordanian border.
As a result, it said, Russia has stopped using a key "de-confliction" communication channel set up to avoid conflict between USA and Russian forces in Syria.
A USA warplane shot down an armed Iranian drone over Syrian territory on Tuesday.
USA special forces are on the ground at a base in At Tanf, training and advising coalition forces in the campaign against ISIS militants.
"We have said before that demonstrated hostile intent and actions of pro-regime forces towards coalition partner forces in Syria that are conducting legitimate counter-Isis operations in Syria, will not be tolerated", Davis said.
The US-led coalition said the location was close to where another pro-regime drone, which intelligence sources had also identified as Iranian, was shot down on June 8 after dropping bombs near coalition forces. And on Monday, a US fighter jet shot down a pro-Syrian regime drone in southeastern Syria. That led Russian Federation, a close ally of Syrian President Bashar Assad, to warn that it would target US -led coalition planes flying west of the Euphrates River.
GOP Holds On in High-Profile Special Election in Georgia
Tim Ryan , D-Ohio, who unsuccessfully challenged Pelosi in a leadership election last fall. When it was all said and done, the Democrats were likely their own undoing.
A top USA general said the country would work to relaunch the "deconfliction" hotline established in 2015, after Russian Federation said Washington had failed to use the line - a vital incident-prevention tool - before targeting the plane near Raqa.
Fighting and bombardment meanwhile resumed early Tuesday between Syrian government forces and rebels in the southern city of Daraa and nearby areas, where a 48-hour truce had gone into effect on Saturday.
In Canberra, a Defense Department statement said on Tuesday that "Australian Defense Force protection is regularly reviewed in response to a range of potential threats".
The US-led coalition in the Middle East is looking shaky after Australia suspended all air operations over Syria in the face of Russian threats and an escalation of tensions in the region.
On Sunday, a Navy F/A-18-E Super Hornet shot down a Syrian air force SU-22 fighter over the skies of Syria.
Following Sunday's incident, Russia threatened that US -led coalition aircraft will be "followed by Russian ground-based air defense and air defense aircraft as air targets" if they are operating in Syrian airspace west of the Euphrates River while while Russia is on combat missions. It is still unclear what the missiles struck, and Iran has provided few details.
Sharif says the missile launch reflects Iran's "military power" though Iran has no intention of starting another war. U.S. officials said the plane was armed and flying "erratically". That's a questionable line of argument, particularly as unlike the recent strikes around al-Tanf, there's no indication that there was a US troop presence nearby-only Kurdish SDF forces.
The Syrian military said that their plane was carrying out a combat mission against ISIS when it was shot down.
Comments