Russia to target planes from US-led coalition flying over parts of Syria

russia

Russia has said it will target any plane from the US-led coalition flying west of the Euphrates river in Syria after the US military shot down a Syrian air force jet on Sunday. Russia’s defence ministry said the US had given it no warning, and that as a consequence it was also suspending coordination over “deconfliction zones” that were created to prevent incidents involving US and Russian jets engaged in operations in Syria.

According to the Pentagon the Syrian jet in question had dropped bombs near US partner forces involved in the fight to wrest Raqqa from Islamic State (Isis) control. It was the first such US attack on a Syrian air force plane since Syria’s civil war began six years ago. In Russia’s first response to the incident early on Monday, the deputy foreign minister, Sergei Ryabkov, said: “This strike has to be seen as a continuation of America’s line to disregard the norms of international law.(guardian)…[+]