US military shoots down Iranian-made 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 IS, 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 IS. Russia condemned the U.S. action and in retaliation suspended a hotline intended to prevent such incidents.

Asked Tuesday whether the hotline was no longer being used, a Pentagon spokesman, Navy Capt. Jeff Davis, said he could not discuss the matter beyond saying the U.S. stands ready to use the line.

“The de-confliction line has proven effective at mitigating strategic miscalculations and escalating tense situations, and to be clear, we prefer to keep this channel of communication open. We want to de-escalate, not escalate,” Davis said. “We remain available on our end. I’ll leave it to the Russians to state their level of participation.”

The U.S. has also fired on Syrian government ground forces in the east on two occasions in just the last month.

The U.S. military’s Central Command said the drone shot down Tuesday was a Shaheed 129 and appeared to have been operated by “pro-regime” forces, a term which U.S. officials previously have used to describe Hezbollah elements.

There are concerns that further confrontations could lead to a breakout of hostilities that would hinder the battle against IS.