QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – The White House reported on Wednesday that a Russian fighter jet fired flares and hit a US drone in Syrian airspace.
In another incident a day earlier, Russian warplanes came dangerously close to a US manned and unmanned aircraft, posing risks to crews and planes and raising concerns about the potential US response.
Over the last several years, the US and Russia have used a de-confliction line between the two militaries in Syria to avoid unintentional mistakes or encounters that can inadvertently lead to escalation.
The two states keep accusing each other of violating their airspaces in Syria.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Russia’s “close approach to and deployment of flares over U.S. drones during a routine mission” to counter Islamic State (ISIS) militants in Syria,” violates international norms.
The First Post reported, citing a senior US official, that US and Russian military commanders communicate over a de-confliction phone line to avoid unintended clashes in Syria. There are often many calls a day, and at times result in angry threats as commanders argue over an ongoing operation.
Experts say Russia is likely conducting the harassing attacks to support Iran’s goal of pushing US troops out of Syria, with a senior US defense official saying Iran wants to be able to more easily move lethal aid to Lebanese Hezbollah and threaten Israel.
The Russian military intervention in the Syrian civil war began in September 2015, after a request by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad for military aid against the Syrian opposition and ISIS.
In exchange, Iran supports Russia in its war operations in Ukraine, according to the experts.
John Hardie, director of the Russia program for the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said the intercepts are part of a coordinated effort by Russia and Iran “to try to push the US out of Syria.”
General Michael “Erik” Kurilla, commander of US Central Command (CENTCOM), said on July 23, “Russian unsafe and unprofessional behavior in the air not only degrades our Defeat ISIS mission, it risks unintended escalation and miscalculation.”
In a statement, General Alex Grynkewich, Commander of US Air Force Central Command, called on Russia “to put an immediate end to this reckless, unprovoked, and unprofessional behavior,” in Syria.
For his part, Former Defense Secretary Mark Esper urged, in an interview with the CNN, the actual response by the US, saying, “I think this is a pattern that’s going to continue if not escalate, and I think it requires a response.”
On July 18, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General, Mark Milley, threatened the Russian forces in Syria, saying, “If there’s a hostile act, hostile intent, or if they’re acting unsafely or unprofessionally, then we’ll work through that, but we will protect ourselves.”
Rear Admiral Oleg Gurinov, deputy head of Russian Reconciliation Centre for Syria, said, on July 24, that a drone of the US-led Global Coalition “dangerously” approached Russian airplanes in northern Syria.
In November 2015, the Obama administration began the deployment of US special forces to northeast Syria, with the mission of assisting Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in their fight against ISIS, President Obama then ordered several dozen Special Operations troops into northeast and north Syria to assist the SDF fighters battling ISIS.