United States Aircraft Shoots Down Iranian-Made Drone in Syria

On Thursday, June 8, a United States aircraft shot down an Iranian-made drone in southern Syria—this drone fired on both coalition and partnered forces patrolling the area.  According to the United States, this is the first time that the opposing pro-Syrian regime forces fired on a U.S.-led alliance.

A United States official said that the Iranian-made drone, controlled in an area north of At Tanf, was shot down by a U.S. F-15 aircraft.  Destroyed after dropping one of several munitions at a nearby location where coalition personnel trained, the “munition did not have an effect on coalition forces,” says spokesman Colonel Ryan Dillon.

Dillon adds, “There are still some pro-regime forces that remain inside the de-confliction zone.  We remain ready to defend ourselves against any threat.”  Not seeking to start conflicts with pro-regime forces, the United States wants to focus on solely combating ISIS.

That day, the U.S.-led coalition conducted an airstrike against the pro-regime forces within the area, specifically the de-confliction zone and around the alliance base.  Taking place after three technical vehicles advanced into restricted territory, two of those vehicles were struck about 24 miles away from the At Tanf base.

It is reported that, “This 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.”

A pro-regime airstrike that occurred on Tuesday was intended to protect Shia militia fighters aligned with President Bashar al-Assad—the United States did not support the militia force but approved the strike upon request from the Syrian government.  Hours later, the United States conducted its own military strike that Tuesday against the militia for their refusal to leave the de-confliction zone.

            Two United States defense officials describe the incident, explaining that, “Tuesday’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 U.S. restricted zone, came under ground attack from anti-government forces… When the attack happened, the U.S. 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 U.S. agreed… But a short time later, the pro-regime forces begin bringing additional fighters and equipment into the area and when they refused to leave, the U.S. carried out its own airstrike targeting the militia forces.”

In response to justify the airstrike despite controversy, the United States says that, “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.”

The presence of the militia within the de-confliction zone is considered a “threat to us in that particular location,” according to Colonel Dillon.

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