After a Navy F-18 shot down a Syrian SU-22 on June 18 for attacking us -backed rebels, Russian Federation declared that it was done coordinating its military's moves in Syria with USA forces.
The downing of the jet and Russia's response came as the US-led coalition and allied fighters battle to oust the Islamic State (IS) Jihadist group from its Syrian bastion Raqa.
In the latest incident, the Pentagon said a US F-15 aircraft flying over Syrian territory fired on the drone after it displayed hostile intent and advanced on coalition forces.
The U.S. military said on Friday that a crisis communications link with Russian Federation meant to avoid an accidental clash over Syria was "in use", even after Moscow threatened to abandon it over the U.S. downing of a Syrian military jet on Sunday.
"This was a precautionary measure to allow the coalition to assess the operational risk", a department statement said on Thursday. "ADF operations in Iraq will continue as part of the coalition". A similar drone was shot down in the same location after it dropped munitions near coalition forces on June 8.
A U.S. Super Hornet immediately responded and shot down the Syrian plane.
The jihadists are under major pressure in Syria and neighbouring Iraq.
Activists and IS supporters reported his death at the time but Tuesday's statement from Central Command was the first USA confirmation.
On Monday, Moscow accused the United States of issuing a warning before a USA jet shot down a Syrian warplane on Sunday after which it suspended its communication channel with the U.S. about military operations.
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The row prompted the Australian government to announce that it would "temporarily" halt its airstrikes in Syria.
The US military said it will work on de-escalating the situation, with Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr. saying on Monday that the United States will work diplomatically and militarily "to re-establish de-confliction", but the Russian side seems seriously irked.
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".
"I'm confident that we are still communicating between our operations center and the Russia federation operations center - and I'm also confident that our forces have the capability to take care of themselves", Dunford said.
Iranian drones have been flying fairly regularly over southern Syria and Syrian aircraft have begun to venture there as well.
The U.S. -led coalition, which has in recent weeks escalated its aerial bombing campaign in northern Syria and Raqqa province.
Russian Federation condemned the USA latest strike against a Syrian aircraft, calling it a "flagrant violation of global law".
On Sunday, Iran's Revolutionary Guards said they had fired mid-range ground-to-ground missiles from a site in western Iran targeting "the headquarters and meeting place and suicide vehicle assembly line" of "IS terrorists" in Deir al-Zour province.
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