A U.S. fighter jet early Tuesday morning shot down an armed "pro-regime" Shahed-129 drone in the skies over southern Syria as it advanced on U.S. -led coalition forces, according to U.S. Central Command.
On several occasions in recent weeks, warplanes of the US -led coalition have also struck pro-government forces to prevent them advancing from the Al Tanf garrison in southeastern Syria at a spot where the country's borders join Iraq and Jordan.
The United States did not use the deconfliction line with Russian Federation for operations in Syria amid the downing of a pro-Syrian government drone near al-Tanf because the event unfolded too fast.
In the latest incident, the Iranian-made drone was flying near coalition forces, prompting the U.S.to deploy an F-15E fighter jet to shoot it down.
On Sunday, the United States shot down a Syrian warplane for the first time, prompting Russian Federation to issue a threat to coalition aircraft flying west of the River Euphrates, saying they "will be considered air targets".
The SU-22 fighter bomber was engaged by an F/A-18E Super Hornet after it had dropped bombs near the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, the Pentagon said.
On Sunday, US aircraft shot down a Syrian government jet that was bombing Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) positions south of Raqqa, in eastern Syria.
Moscow has now suspended a hotline meant to prevent confrontations in Syria's crowded air space, and warned it could consider US-led coalition planes "targets".
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.
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Despite the recent violence, US officials stressed they have no plans to escalate fighting against the government of Syrian President Bashar Assad. For now, however, it seems the president is adhering to another mantra he tweeted, presciently, in 2013: "If we are going to continue to be stupid and go into Syria (watch Russia), as they say in the movies, SHOOT FIRST AND TALK LATER!"
"The Syrian regime ... needs to understand that we will keep the right of self-defense of coalition forces aligned against ISIS", he said.
The spokesman said that USA air operations were continuing to operate, including west of the Euphrates, with some changes to altitude and flight plans in order to "mitigate risk".
"The U.S. must decide if it wants to continue to actively support its proxies in the Syria civil war".
That drone was shot down after it dropped one of several weapons it was carrying near a position where coalition personnel are training and advising partner ground forces in the fight against ISIS. USA warplanes launched three other airstrikes against the forces there.
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Iran's Revolutionary Guard has said that all six ballistic missiles it launched at Islamic State militants in Syria this week hit their targets.
A Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee says the USA is moving toward a military confict with Russian Federation and Iran in Syria.
On the other hand, Russia, along with Iran, has been assisting the Syrian government in its fight against terrorist groups wreaking havoc in the Arab country since 2011.
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