WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — A US F-15 fighter jet shot down an Iranian-made Shaheed-129 drone near Syria’s al-Tanf on Tuesday morning, after it was assessed that it posed a threat to the US-led coalition forces, Operation Inherent Resolve said in a statement.
"The F-15E intercepted the armed UAV [unmanned aerial vehicle] after it was observed advancing on the coalition position. When the armed UAV continued to advance on the coalition position without diverting its course, it was shot down," the statement said on Tuesday.
The coalition noted the drone showed "hostile intent," adding that the incident took place in the same location where another pro-Syrian government drone dropped munition on June 8 targeting the Syrian Democratic Forces.
The coalition also said that amid recent developments related to the deconfliction line with Russia, it will not allow pro-Syrian government aircraft to threaten or closely approach its forces.
"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," the statement added.
The Russian Defense Ministry announced Monday that it suspended the deconfliction channel with the United States for incident prevention in Syria following the attack.
Additionally, the Russian Defense Ministry announced that any airborne objects west of the Euphrates River would be tracked by Russian ground and air defenses as targets.
