WASHINGTON: A US drone strike killed an Islamic State group leader in Syria hours after the same MQ-9 Reaper drones were harassed by Russian military jets over the western part of the country, according to the defence department.
Three Reapers had been flying overhead searching for the militant on Friday, a US defence official said, when they were harassed for about two hours by Russian aircraft. Shortly after that, the drones struck and killed Usamah al-Muhajir, who was riding a motorcycle in the Aleppo region, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. The official said al-Muhajir was in northwest Syria at the time of the strike, but that he usually operated in the east.
It was not clear how the US military confirmed that the person killed was al-Muhajir. In a statement on Sunday, US Central Command said there are no indications any civilians were killed. The military was assessing reports a civilian may have been injured.
Friday was the third day in a row that US officials complained that Russian fighter jets in the region had conducted unsafe and harassing flights around American drones. US officials said the drones were unarmed in the earlier flights, but were carrying weapons on Friday, as they were hunting al-Muhajir.
Rear Adm. Oleg Gurinov, head of the Russian Reconciliation Centre for Syria, said this past week that the Russian and Syrian militaries had started a six-day joint training that ends Monday. Gurinov added in comments carried by Syrian media that Moscow was concerned about the flights of drones by the US-led coalition over northern Syria, calling them “systematic violations of protocols” designed to avoid clashes between the two militaries.
Three Reapers had been flying overhead searching for the militant on Friday, a US defence official said, when they were harassed for about two hours by Russian aircraft. Shortly after that, the drones struck and killed Usamah al-Muhajir, who was riding a motorcycle in the Aleppo region, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. The official said al-Muhajir was in northwest Syria at the time of the strike, but that he usually operated in the east.
It was not clear how the US military confirmed that the person killed was al-Muhajir. In a statement on Sunday, US Central Command said there are no indications any civilians were killed. The military was assessing reports a civilian may have been injured.
Friday was the third day in a row that US officials complained that Russian fighter jets in the region had conducted unsafe and harassing flights around American drones. US officials said the drones were unarmed in the earlier flights, but were carrying weapons on Friday, as they were hunting al-Muhajir.
Rear Adm. Oleg Gurinov, head of the Russian Reconciliation Centre for Syria, said this past week that the Russian and Syrian militaries had started a six-day joint training that ends Monday. Gurinov added in comments carried by Syrian media that Moscow was concerned about the flights of drones by the US-led coalition over northern Syria, calling them “systematic violations of protocols” designed to avoid clashes between the two militaries.