An F-15E Strike Eagle from the 391st Expeditionary Fighter Squadron at Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan, launches heat decoys Dec. 15 during a close-air-support mission over Afghanistan. (U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Aaron Allmon)
The Russian military group in Syria has stopped adhering to agreed-upon deconfliction protocols with the United States-led coalition, an American military official told Al-Arabiya English on June 7.
The U.S. maintains some 900 troops in Syria, deployed between key gas and oil fields in the northeastern region and a garrison blocking the strategic Damascus-Baghdad highway in the southeastern area of al-Tanf, under the pretext of fighting ISIS.
Damascus calls this presence an “occupation” and has repeatedly called on Washington to pull its troops out from Syrian territory.
“While our pilots continue to adhere to these agreed-upon protocols, the Russian military recently departed from the standards expected of a professional Air Force, choosing instead to deliberately violate these agreements,” a U.S. Air Forces Central (AFCENT) spokesperson told Al Arabiya English.
“Their [Russia’s] aircraft operate in an unsafe and unprofessional manner, executing aggressive maneuvers and committing non-deconflicted incursions into our operating areas with increasing frequency,” the official added.
The official claimed that coalition pilots began to use radar and other “on-board systems and sensors” to avoid collision and maintain awareness of Russian fighter jets nearby.
“We deliberately maintain a de-escalatory posture to not activate or cue any weapons to Russian aircraft. Comments to the contrary are false and deliberately inflammatory,” he explained.
These claims were repeated by AFCENT public affairs officer Teresa Sullivan, who told the Syrian pro-opposition news outlet Enab Baladi on June 11 that Russian pilots are “violating” the deconfliction protocols while operating over Syria.
Last month, the Russian Center for Reconciliation In Syria warned that U.S. pilots were carrying out unprofessional activity near Russian warplanes, including by “activating” their weapons systems. The Pentagon vehemently denied this accusation, however.
Tensions between Russian and U.S. forces in Syria have been mounting since Moscow launched a special military operation in Ukraine last year. Still, a military confrontation between the two powers in the war-torn country remains highly-unlikely.
