Damascus, Syria. The United States has shot down an aircraft of the Syrian Assad Airforce Damascus officials are reporting, as tensions are raised to a new level in the conflict.
An American coalition warplane downed on Sunday evening a Syrian regime army jet as a response to attacks targeting a group of Kurdish fighters.The American coalition announced in a statement that a Syrian SU-22 jet dropped bombs near Syrian Democratic Forces positions in southern Tabqa.
On Sunday evening, rare fighting erupted between regime forces and SDF fighters in two towns located 40 kilometers south of the city of Raqqa, according to international observers locally.
“In accordance with its right to defend itself or its partnered force, the Syrian jet was immediately shot down by a US F/A-18 Super Hornet,” the statement said. The Americans did not state under what authority they operate in Syria under. They were not invited by the Syrian government, nor has the United Nations given them a mandate to kill and maim there.
The Syrian Assad regime said in a statement that the pilot of the downed jet was missing.The regime statement also claimed that its jet was downed while on a mission against ISIS militants.
In related developments, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards announced on Sunday that its paramilitary force launched surface-to-surface missiles into positions located in Syria’s Deir Ezzor. In a statement, the Revolutionary Guards said the move came in response to the two recent attacks on Iran’s parliament and a shrine in Tehran, which were both conducted by ISIS.