{"id":31942,"date":"2017-06-09T10:25:29","date_gmt":"2017-06-09T10:25:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/?p=31942"},"modified":"2017-06-09T10:25:29","modified_gmt":"2017-06-09T10:25:29","slug":"us-aircraft-shoots-iranian-made-drone-syria","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/world-news\/us-aircraft-shoots-iranian-made-drone-syria.html","title":{"rendered":"US aircraft shoots down Iranian-made drone in Syria"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tUS aircraft shoots down Iranian-made drone in Syria<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/span>
\n<\/h2>\n

\n\tUS aircraft shot down an Iranian-made drone that fired on coalition forces patrolling with partner forces in southern Syria, a coalition spokesman told reporters on Thursday.<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tThis is the first time that pro-Syrian regime forces — which the US says includes Iranian-backed Shia militias — have fired on the US-led coalition.<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tA US official told CNN that a US F-15 jet shot down the Iranian-made Shahed 129 drone, which was being controlled from a location in Syria north of At Tanf.<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tIt 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.<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tThe "munition did not have an effect on coalition forces," according to spokesman Col. Ryan Dillon.<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\t"There are still some pro-regime forces that remain inside the de-confliction zone," said Dillon adding, "We remain ready to defend ourselves against any threat."<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tDillon indicated the US wanted to focus on fighting ISIS rather than these forces.<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tA US defense official said that, for now, this was a proportional response. The munition dropped by the drone was a "dud" and is being perceived right now as a "show of force" by those who fired it.<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tThe incident marks an escalation in the area around Al-Tanf — a base on the Syrian-Jordanian border manned by US and British Special Forces that are advising an anti-ISIS Syrian rebel group known as Maghawir al-Thawra, or the Commandos of the Revolution.<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tThe US-led anti-ISIS coalition also conducted another airstrike Thursday against pro-regime forces in the de-confliction zone around the coalition base, two US officials told CNN.<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tThe strike took place after three technical vehicles were observed crossing into the restricted area. Two of the vehicles were hit about 24 miles from the At Tanf base.<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tThis was the third coalition strike in recent weeks against pro-regime forces near At Tanf and it comes days after a highly unusual move from the coalition where they permitted a pro-regime Syrian aircraft to conduct an airstrike inside a restricted zone in southern Syria where American forces were stationed.<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tTuesday's strike, which also took place near the US-manned At-Tanf Garrison on Syria's southern border, was intended to protect Iranian-backed Shia militia fighters aligned with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad who had come under attack from anti-government forces.<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tThe US does not support the militia group but approved the strike after a request from the Syrian government was relayed by the Russians through established communication channels.<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tBut just hours later, the US-led coalition conducted its own airstrike against the pro-regime forces after they refused to leave the de-confliction zone.<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tTwo US defense officials outlined the course of the events to CNN providing new details into what led to the coalition's rare targeting of pro-regime forces.<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tTuesday's incident unfolded in several phases over a period of about six hours and began when a small number of Iranian-backed Shia militia fighters, located just inside the US restricted zone, came under ground attack from anti-government forces.<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tThe militia fighters were just inside a 34-mile so-called de-confliction zone the US had set up weeks earlier.<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tThe US had been trying to keep the zone clear of outsiders in order to protect American forces but a small number of militia fighters had remained in place until they were attacked on Tuesday.<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tWhen that attack happened, the US and Russians spoke on their established de-confliction communications channel. The Russians relayed a request from the Syrian government to conduct an airstrike to support their personnel on the ground and the US agreed, according to the US officials.<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tSome hours later, the US and Russia spoke again — this time the Russians passed along a request to evacuate wounded personnel from the restricted area using unarmed vehicles.<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tIt wasn't immediately clear how many wounded were evacuated.<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tBut a short time later, the pro-regime forces begin bringing additional fighters and equipment into the area and when they refused to leave, the US carried out its own airstrike targeting the militia forces.<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\t"Despite previous warnings, pro-regime forces entered the agreed-upon de-confliction zone with a tank, artillery, anti-aircraft weapons, armed technical vehicles and more than 60 soldiers posing a threat to coalition and partner forces based at the At Tanf Garrison," a coalition statement said on Tuesday.<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tAfter several warnings over the de-confliction channel, the coalition destroyed "two artillery pieces, an anti-aircraft weapon, and damaged a tank."<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tThe airstrike was carried out by a US F\/A-18 aircraft that dropped four bombs in total and killed an estimated 10 fighters in addition to the previously reported damaged and destroyed vehicles.<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tLast week, the coalition said that a relatively "small element" of pro-regime forces continued to hold their position inside the "de-confliction" zone surrounding the coalition training base.<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tCoalition spokesperson, Col. Ryan Dillon, told reporters last week that the pro-regime forces inside the zone represented an "armed and hostile presence" and "they pose a threat to us in that particular location."<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tSource:- http:\/\/edition.cnn.com\/2017\/06\/07\/politics\/us-led-coalition-syria-strike-at-tanf\/index.html<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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