US Warplane Shoots Down Syrian Jet over Eastern Syria

by | Jun 19, 2017

US Warplane Shoots Down Syrian Jet over Eastern Syria

by | Jun 19, 2017

US Accuses Syrian Plane of Attacking Kurdish Forces

The US has confirmed that in an incident Sunday evening, an American F/A-18E Super Hornet shot down a Syrian government Su-22 bomber south of Tabqa, accusing the Syrian jet of having dropped bombs on Kurdish fighters in the town of Ja’Din.

The US has been increasingly attacking pro-government forces in eastern Syria, but this is the first time that they’ve shot down a manned Syrian aircraft, and the fact that it happened within Syrian airspace is likely to dramatically add to the tensions between the two sides.

The Pentagon argued that because they are allied with the Kurds they were free to attack the Syrian plane under the concept of “collective self-defense,” and added that they “will not hesitate” to take further military action to defend the Kurds, or other partnered forces, from future threats.

The Syrian Army said their operation was part of an ongoing push into ISIS-held territory, and that they view the US attack as a “flagrant” attempt to undermine their anti-ISIS operations. They added that the pilot of the destroyed plane is still missing after the US attack.

Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is the News Editor for Antiwar.com, your best source for antiwar news, viewpoints and activities. He has 10 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times and the Detroit Free Press.

View all posts

Our Books

Shop books published by the Libertarian Institute.

libetarian institute longsleeve shirt

Our Books

cb0cb1ef 3fcb 417d 80d8 4eef7bbd8290

Recent Articles

Recent

Bill Kristol vs. The Holy Father

Bill Kristol vs. The Holy Father

Recently when President Donald Trump shared an AI image of himself as the next pope in the wake of the death of Pope Francis, apparently in jest, it caused controversy. For neoconservative godson Bill Kristol, it created an opportunity to needle Vice President J.D....

read more
What Trump Misunderstands About William McKinley

What Trump Misunderstands About William McKinley

It’s no secret that one of Donald Trump’s favorite U.S. presidents is William McKinley, who led the country from 1897 until his assassination in 1901. Indeed, Trump recently changed the official name of Denali back to Mount McKinley in honor of the late president. In...

read more
State Schools: Bad Then, Worse Now

State Schools: Bad Then, Worse Now

On April 20, President Donald Trump dropped another executive order: Improving Education Outcomes by Empowering Parents, States, and Communities has been received by both supporters and critics as aiming at the complete elimination of the U.S. Department of Education...

read more

Pin It on Pinterest

Share This