US F-35s come 'dangerously' close to Russian Su-35s in Syria's Al-Tanf
3 Min Read
Russia's Reconciliation Center in Syria records 9 violations of deconfliction zone protocols by the US-led coalition in the past 24 hours.
-
A US F-35 fighter jet on June 12, 2019 (AFP)
Two US fighter jets conducted a dangerous maneuver near Russian Su-35 aircraft over southern Syria on Monday, Vadim Kulit, the deputy head of the Russian Defense Ministry's Center for Reconciliation of Opposing Sides in Syria, said on Tuesday.
"On August 14, from 12.35 to 12.50 [09:35 to 09:50 am GMT] in the Al-Tanf area at an altitude of about 9100 meters [29800 feet], a dangerous approach took place between two F-35 ‘coalition’ fighters and two Su-35 aircraft of the Russian aerospace forces, which were making a planned flight along the southern border of Syria," Kulit said in a press briefing.
The senior army official added that drones belonging to the US-led coalition breached deconfliction protocols 9 times in the past 24 hours.
Read more: US uses displaced Syrians as human shields to protect occupation bases
The center recorded 20 violations near the Al-Tanf area, carried out by three F-35s, three F-16s, two Rafale jets, and two MQ-1C UAVs.
Washington-backed forces currently occupy parts of the provinces of al-Hasakah, Deir Ezzor, and Raqqa, where the largest Syrian oil and gas fields are located. The US regularly conducts illegal military activities to protect its plundering of the country's resources.
In July, Al Mayadeen sources revealed that the United States is fortifying its occupation bases surrounding the Conoco and Al-Omar gas and oil fields respectively using large reinforcements of its paramilitary proxies as part of its ongoing theft-operations in the north.
According to the sources, Americans deployed forces from Al-Sanadid, a US-backed militia formed by the Arab Shammar tribe, and "Army of Revolutionaries (Jaysh Al-Thuwar)" forces affiliated with the Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in its occupation military bases near the energy fields in the countryside of Deir Ezzor.
The latest measures by the US army signal fears of growing threats to their illegal presence in the Arab country as regional shifts in favor of Syria have strengthed Damascus' position to fulfill the mission of booting all forces that contributed to the global war against the nation and caused misery and agony among its citizens for over a decade.
Heightened readiness of US occupation forces comes as the Syrian Armed Forces, its allies, and local Resistance groups started in the past few months to carry out operations against the American military and its militants, in addition to gradually reclaiming land for the government's control.
What also raised the alarm in Washington was the unannounced military campaign launched by Damascus and supported by its Russian and Iranian allies to liberate areas in Idlib from Turkish-backed terrorist groups, on top of which is the HTS, hinting at a decision to bolster ground efforts to end the illegal presence of foreign forces and their local proxies.
