Editor in Chief: Moh. Reza Huwaida Friday, March 29th, 2024

Russia Warns US after Downing of Syrian Warplane

Russia Warns US after  Downing  of Syrian Warplane

MOSCOW — Warplanes from the U.S.-led coalition operating over Syrian government-controlled areas west of the Euphrates River will be tracked as potential targets, Russia’s Defense Ministry said Monday, a day after the U.S. military shot down a Syrian air force jet.
Moscow condemned the downing of the Syrian jet after it dropped bombs near the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces that are fighting the Islamic State group in Syria’s increasingly complicated civil war. The downing of the warplane — the first time in the conflict that the U.S. has shot down a Syrian jet — came as Iran fired several ballistic missiles at IS positions in eastern Syria in retaliation for two attacks by the extremists in Tehran earlier this month that killed 17 people.

Areas of northern Syria west of the Euphrates were controlled by IS before Syrian government forces captured most of them in recent months. The Russians appear to want to avoid further U.S. targeting of Syrian warplanes or ground troops that have come under U.S. attack in eastern Syria recently. Moscow also called on the U.S. military to provide a full accounting of why it decided to shoot down the Syrian Su-22. Russia, a key ally of Syrian President Bashar Assad, has been providing an air cover to the government’s offensive since 2015. (AP)