U.S.-Led Coalition Fighter Jets, Drones Violate Syria’s Airspace Again

A General Atomics MQ-1C Gray Eagle armed with AGM-114 Hellfire missiles. (Photo Credit: U.S. Army)

Fighter jets and drones of the United States-led coalition violated Syrian airspace 18 times over the past day, Rear Admiral Vadim Kulit, the deputy chief of the Russian Center for Reconciliation In Syria, said on August 10.

“A total of 18 airspace violations were detected in the al-Tanf zone over the past 24 hours, committed by three pairs of F-16 fighter jets, four pairs of F-35 fighter jets, one pair of Typhoon fighter jets and two MQ-1C multirole unmanned aerial vehicles of the coalition,” the commander told reporters during his daily briefing.

The U.S.-led coalition maintains a garrison with a 55-kilometer no-fly zone around it in the southeastern area of al-Tanf. It also keeps a network of bases at key oil and gas fields in the northeastern governorates of al-Hasakah and Deir Ezzor. This deployment is not sanctioned by Damascus, who considers it to be an occupation.

In addition, the coalition does not properly coordinated with the Russian military group in Syria and violates a deconfliction agreement that was signed in 2019

Kulit concluded his briefing by warning that the U.S.-led coalition’s repeated violations created a dangerous situation in Syrian airspace.

Earlier this week, the Russian Reconciliation Center reported a dangerous incident during which an MQ-9 drone of the coalition almost hit a Russian Su-34 fighter bomber over the northeastern governorate of Raqqa.

Last month, the U.S.-led coalition expanded its aerial operations over Syria without coordination with the Russian military. This led to unprecedented tensions. Russia warned that the actions of the coalition pose a real threat to civilian flights over the country.

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