U.S. forces shoot down armed Iranian drone in Syria

BEIRUT - The U.S. military said it shot down an Iranian-made, armed drone in southern Syria on Tuesday, marking the third time this month that the U.S. has downed aircraft affiliated with Syrian President Bashar Assad’s government.

The U.S.-led coalition fighting the Islamic State group said a U.S. F-15 fighter jet shot down the drone “after it displayed hostile intent” while approaching a military camp near the Syria-Jordan border. A similar drone was shot down in the same location after it dropped munitions near coalition forces on June 8.

The repeated incidents in the vicinity of the Tanf camp, where U.S. forces train and advise local ground forces in the fight against the Islamic State, add to soaring regional tensions that could spiral out of control just as the fight against the extremists enters a crucial phase, with U.S.-backed forces pushing into the group’s de facto capital, the Syrian city of Raqqa.

The U.S. on Sunday shot down a Syrian jet for the first time during the conflict near Raqqa after it dropped bombs near the U.S.-allied Syrian Democratic Forces, which are battling the Islamic State. Russia condemned the U.S. action and in retaliation suspended a hotline intended to prevent such incidents.

Australia on Tuesday suspended its airstrikes against Islamic State targets in Syria as a precaution after Russia warned the U.S.-led coalition not to fly over Syrian army positions west of the Euphrates River.