US shots down drone in Syria near Jordanian border

A US warplane shot down an Iran-made drone operated by pro-regime forces in southern Syria early on Tuesday, officials said, the second such incident in less than two weeks.
The US-led anti-ISIL coalition said an F-15E Strike Eagle jet destroyed the Shaheed-129 drone around 12.30am, north-east of the Al Tanaf garrison which is close to the Jordanian border.
“It displayed hostile intent and advanced on coalition forces,” the coalition said.
Coalition troops were working in the area alongside local forces who are being trained to fight ISIL.
A US military official said the drone was “on a run toward our folks to drop a munition on them”, so the coalition shot the unmanned aircraft down in self defence.
Al Tanaf, located on the key highway connecting Damascus with Baghdad, has been threatened by a surge of Iran-backed troops loyal to Syrian president Bashar Al Assad.
Coalition forces use the area – just north-east of the Jordanian border – as a training and staging area for attacks against ISIL.
The incident has similar hallmarks to a June 8 downing, when a US jet destroyed a pro-regime drone after it dropped what turned out to be a dud bomb near US-backed local forces.
It also comes after an American warplane shot down a Syrian government jet on Sunday in northern Syria as it “dropped bombs” near the Syrian Democratic Forces, a US-backed alliance fighting ISIL.