The US has accused Russian of sending warplanes dangerously close to US drones in Syria. And attempting to disrupt the flight.
According to the Associated Press, the tension between the two countries in Syria is not a new thing. Because, in addition to ground patrols, flights are also conducted in Syria.
Syria has been in a state of war for the past 12 years. Due to which nearly 5,000 people have been killed and more than one million injured.
US military officials said in a statement that the three MQ-9 drones were once again put into trouble in a two-hour aerial pursuit.
According to the statement, “Russian ships passed dangerously close to the drones 18 times.”
Russia’s special envoy for Syria
Oleg Grinov, Russia’s special envoy for Syria, said earlier this week that Russia and the Syrian army have begun joint exercises. That will end on Monday.
In a statement released by the Syrian state media, Granov further said that Russia is concerned about the flights of American drones in Syrian airspace.
He also termed the US move a “systematic violation” of the protocols. That have been set up to avoid confrontation between the two countries.
US military officials said for the first time on Wednesday. That a Russian aircraft showed “unsafe and unprofessional” behaviour near US and French drones while the MQ-Nine drones were conducting an operation against ISIS.
The United States and France are part of an international coalition fighting ISIS in Syria. Which in the past has seized most of Syria and established a caliphate.
Even after ISIS was defeated in 2017, the militants continued to carry out deadly attacks on soldiers in both countries.
Russia joined the Syrian war in September 2015; since then, it has been working in support of President Bashar al-Assad, and its ships have been carrying out strikes against extremist groups in northeastern Syria.
On Friday, a US drone targeted a motorcyclist who human rights groups said belonged to ISIS.
