Russia condemns US downing of Syria jet as ‘act of aggression’

The Russian defence ministry says it will now use its defence systems to track US-led coalition planes in the area.

Smoke rises over Raqqa as US-backed forces move in. Picture: AFP

The US military has shot down a Syrian air force fighter jet that bombed local forces aligned with the Americans in the fight against Islamic State militants, an action that ­appeared to mark a new escalation of the conflict.

Late Monday a top Russian diplomat condemned the shootdown as an “act of aggression”, and the Russian defence ministry said it would scramble planes and use its defence systems to track US-led coalition planes in the area.

“Any flying objects, including planes and drones of the international coalition, discovered west of the Euphrates River will be tracked as aerial targets by Russia’s air defences on and above ground,” a statement said.

The US had not shot down a Syrian regime aircraft before Monday’s confrontation, said navy captain Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman. While the US has said since it began recruiting, training and advising what it calls moderate Syrian opposition forces to fight Islamic State that it would protect them from potential Syrian government retribution, this was the first time it resorted to engaging in air-to-air combat to make good on that promise.

The US-led coalition headquarters in Iraq said in a written statement that a US F-18 Super Hornet shot down a Syrian government SU-22 after it dropped bombs near the US partner forces, known as the Syrian Democratic Forces.

The shootdown was near Tabqa, a Syrian town in an area that has been a weeks-long focus of fighting against Islamic State militants by the SDF as they surround the city of Raqqa and ­attempt to retake it from the militant group.

The US military statement said it acted in “collective self-­defence” of its partner forces and that the US did not seek a fight with the Syrian government or its Russian supporters.

According to a statement from the Pentagon, pro-Syrian regime forces attacked the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces-held town of Ja’Din, south of Tabqah in northern Syria, wounding SDF fighters and driving the SDF from the town.

Coalition aircraft conducted a show of force and stopped the ­initial pro-regime advance towards the town, the Pentagon said. Following the pro-Syrian forces attack, the coalition called its Russian counterparts “to ­de-escalate the situation and stop the firing”, the statement said.

A few hours later, the Syrian SU-22 dropped bombs near SDF fighters and, “in collective self-defence of coalition-partnered forces”, was immediately shot down by a US F-18 Super Hornet, the Pentagon said.

“The coalition’s mission is to defeat ISIS in Iraq and Syria,” the Pentagon said, using an abbreviation for the Islamic State group.

“The coalition does not seek to fight Syrian regime, Russian or pro-regime forces partnered with them, but will not hesitate to ­defend coalition or partner forces from any threat.”

US forces tangled earlier this month with Syria-allied aircraft in the region. On June 8, US officials reported that a drone, probably connected to Iranian-supported Hezbollah forces, fired on US-backed troops and was shot down by a US fighter jet.

AP, AFP