A General Atomics MQ-1C Gray Eagle armed with AGM-114 Hellfire missiles. (Photo Credit: U.S. Army)
United States-led coalition fighter jets and drones violated Syria’s airspace 26 times over the past day, Rear Admiral Vadim Kulit, deputy chief of the Russian Center for Reconciliation in Syria, said on August 22.
During a briefing, the commander warned that coalition warplanes continue creating” dangerous situations” in the sky over Syria by violating deconfliction protocols.
“Nine violations of the deconfliction protocols of December 9, 2019 linked with the flights by the coalition drones were reported in Syria in the past 24 hours. Two pairs of the coalition’s F-16, three pairs of F-35, two pairs of Typhoon, and a pair of Rafale fighter jets, as well as by two MQ-1C multi-role unmanned aerial vehicles violated Syria’s airspace in the al-Tanf area, across which international air routes run, 17 times during the day.”
According to the commander, the coalition’s actions could provoke air accidents and aggravate the situation in Syria’s airspace.
Coalition warplanes violated Syria’s airspace dozens of times last week. In one case, a pair of American F-35 fighter jets buzzed dangerously close to two Su-35 fighter jets of the Russian Aerospace Forces over the country.
The U.S.-led coalition maintains a network of bases at key oil and gas fields in the northeastern governorates of Deir Ezzor and al-Hasakah. It also has a garrison in the southeastern area of al-Tanf with a 55-kilometer no-fly zone. The coalition claims that its mission is directed against ISIS. However, the Syrian government does not approve of this presence and considers it to be an occupation. At the same time, the Russian military group in the country says that the coalition is not coordinating enough.
In recent months, the coalition expanded its aerial operations over Syria for no clear reason. The expansion coupled with a military buildup by U.S. proxies in the country led to speculation of a near attack by the coalition against government forces and their allies.
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