July 9 (UPI) — Usamah al-Muhajir, a leader of the Islamic State terror group in eastern Syria, was killed Friday in a drone strike conducted by the same U.S. aircraft that had been harassed by Russian forces hours earlier.
“We have made it clear that we remain committed to the defeat of ISIS throughout the region,” said Gen. Michael Erik Kurilla, commander of U.S. Central Command, said in a statement. “ISIS remains a threat, not only to the region but well beyond.”
CENTCOM said there are no reports of civilian deaths but that the coalition of nations fighting terrorism in Syria is assessing reports of a civilian injured.
“The strike on Friday was conducted by the same MQ-9s that had, earlier in the day, been harassed by Russian aircraft in an encounter that had lasted almost two hours,” CENTCOM said.
CENTCOM said Friday that Russian military aircraft dropped flares in front of MQ-9 drones. In an earlier incident Wednesday, a Russian jet engaged its afterburner in front of one of the drones which reduced its ability to maneuver.
The Pentagon has called on Russia to stop its “reckless behavior” in Syria and said Russia’s actions were “unprofessional and unsafe.”
“We call on the Russian forces to cease this type of reckless behavior and to behave like professional airmen,” Pentagon Press Secretary Air Force Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder said in a news conference Thursday after the first incident.
The Russian Defense Ministry said it was conducting joint drills with Syrian forces and that the U.S. drones violated airspace and deconfliction protocols.
Responding to questions about those claims, Ryder said U.S. and Russian forces have been in Syria “for many years now fighting ISIS as part of an international coalition.”
Other militaries fighting terrorism amid an ongoing civil war in Syria include Turkey, Iran and Israel.
“We have rules in place that — you know, well-established processes and procedures, and have very successfully deconflicted with the Russians over many years when it comes to safe operations in that region,” he said. “So, to suggest that somehow, you know, this is our fault, it’s ridiculous.”
Though both the United States and Russia are in Syria to fight ISIS, Moscow remains an ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad who is fighting an ongoing civil war against the Syrian Democratic Forces.
The SDF was created with the support of the United States to fight terrorism in the country. Though many SDF fighters oppose the Assad regime, their primary focus is to combat ISIS. The U.S. does not support the Assad regime.
Tensions between the U.S. and Russia have been growing since Russian President Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine last year but the two countries maintain a so-called deconfliction channel to avoid inadvertent conflict.
