U.S. F-16 Violates Syrian Airspace, Affects Russian Aircraft With Precision Guidance Systems
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Sulaiman
- . July 21, 2023
- . Update: July 21, 2023 8:23 pm
A U.S.F-16 fighter jet used its targeting system on an aircraft of the Russian Aerospace Forces in Syria, says the Russian Center for Reconciliation. The incident occurred during a routine patrol over Syria’s southern border.
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Rear Admiral Oleg Gurinov, deputy chief of Russian Center for Reconciliation, said they registered violations. “Ten violations of the Syrian airspace, committed by four pairs of F-16 fighters and one pair of Rafale fighters of the coalition, were registered in the Al Tanf zone – an area where international air traffic routes are located. A F-16 fighter jet used its targeting system on a plane of the Russian Aerospace Forces, which was performing a scheduled flight along the southern border of the Syrian Arab Republic.”
Gurinov added that the U.S.-led coalition “violated de-confliction protocols 12 times over the past 24 hours”, as it sent its unmanned aerial vehicles on missions there were not coordinated with Russia’s forces.
U.S. – Russia Collide in Syria
American troops were first deployed to Syria by the Obama administration, in 2015, to fight against ISIL. And now Washington intends to deploy around 2,500 troops to northern Syria for nine months. The American troops will support Kurdish militants in the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). Word is that the U.S. has leveraged threats from Russia and Iran as a pretext to increase troops, but its objective is to boost the Kurds.
Since 2022, Russia has significant reduced its soldiers in Syria for its special operation in Ukraine. But Moscow says Russian troops are involved in fewer military operations in Syria because the active phase of the Syrian conflict is over. Russia has not been warm to U.S’s presence in Syria. On July 17, U.S officials said a Russian jet flew very close to a U.S. surveillance aircraft, putting the lives of four American crew members in danger.
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In 2017, the U.S commanders threatened to use military force when the Russians ordered the former’s special forces to leave their base, or face destruction. The near-conflict took place at the U.S. al-Tanf military base on the Syrian border with Jordan at the height of the Syrian conflict when both countries were operating in the country with opposite agendas.
