Australia halts air strikes against ISIS in Syria over fears their planes could be shot down in retaliation for US downing one of Assad's jets
- A US warplane shot down a pro-Assad military plane near Taqbah on Sunday
- Russia warned it will treat all US coalition aircraft west of the Euphrates River in Syria as 'airborne targets' as a result of the incident
- Australia's defence department said strike operations have temporarily ceased
Australian air strikes against ISIS targets in Syria have been halted as a precautionary measure after a US fighter jet shot down a Syrian warplane for bombing near American-backed fighters on the ground.
A spokesman for Australia's defence department confirmed strike operations in Syria have temporarily ceased.
'Australian Defence Force protection is regularly reviewed in response to a range of potential threats,' the spokesman said.
Defence is monitoring the situation closely and air strike operations into Iraq are unaffected.
RAAF operations over Syria have been halted amid fears planes could be fired upon in retaliation for the US downing an Assad-backed fighter jet. File photo
It comes after tensions escalated after a US warplane on Sunday shot down a pro-Assad military aircraft that dropped bombs near American-backed fighters – the first time Washington carried out such action during the civil war.
It was also the first time the US Air Force shot down a manned aircraft since May 1999.
In a statement, the US Central Command said the plane was downed 'in collective self-defense of Coalition-partnered forces,' identified as fighters of the Syrian Democratic Forces near Tabqa.
On Monday, the White House said coalition forces fighting ISIS militants retained the right to self-defense as Russia warned it viewed any planes flying in its area of operations as potential targets.
The US says an SU-22 operated by the Syrian regime was dropping bombs on the Syrian Democratic Forces, a group that is aligned with the US, when it was shot out of the sky by a Super Hornet (file photo)
Tensions escalated after a US warplane on Sunday shot down a pro-Assad military aircraft that dropped bombs near American-backed fighters
Russia warned that it will now treat all US-coalition aircraft west of the Euphrates River in Syria as 'airborne targets' as a result of the incident.
Russia, a staunch ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, said it would track them with missile systems and military aircraft but stopped short of saying it would shoot them down.
Russia's defence ministry has announced it is ending US-Russian co-operation in Syria, which had been designed to prevent a direct conflict between the two powers.
It said it was also immediately scrapping a Syrian air safety agreement with Washington designed to avoid collisions and dangerous incidents.
The U.S. military said it was repositioning its aircraft over Syria to ensure the safety of American air crews targeting Islamic State.
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