The rare attack was the first time a U.S. jet has shot down a manned hostile aircraft in more than a decade, and signaled the United States’ sharply intensifying role in Syria’s war.
U.S. strike aircraft shot down a Syrian government fighter jet shortly after the Syrians bombed U.S.-backed fighters in northern Syria, the Pentagon said in a statement. The incident is the fourth time within a month that the U.S. military has attacked pro-Syrian government forces.
A statement distributed by the Syrian military said that the aircraft’s lone pilot was killed in the attack.
The Syrian statements further said “The attack stresses coordination between the US and ISIS, and it reveals the evil intentions of the US in administrating terrorism and investing it to pass the US-Zionist project in the region.”