WASHINGTON, D.C.: The Pentagon warned the Syrian regime on Monday (Tuesday in Manila) it is prepared to shoot down planes threatening US-led coalition forces in northern Syria, but stopped short of declaring a no-fly zone.
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He repeated that the USA is going to provide air cover and air support to “their forces” on the ground wherever they may be. Spokesman Peter Cook insisted the U.S. has warned Syria not to fly planes in the area for a long time now.
The Soufan Group, an expert US -based security firm interprets Cook’s statement to mean “The warning effectively creates a no-fly zone over joint U.S”. Cook was carefully inserted the caveat that his statement was “not a no fly zone”.
But Cook said such an agreement was far from a done deal.
On the following day, two U.S. F-22 aircraft intercepted Syrian Su-24 combat jets flying through the same area, defense officials said.
“We will continue to defend our forces in our fight against ISIL… and as our forces move in Syria and continue their partnered operations we will do what we need to do to protect our forces”.
It was the first time that Syrian aircraft appeared to threaten USA troops since the Pentagon began deploying American special operations forces into Syria past year. The Syrian aircraft departed the area before the US fighters arrived, Navy Capt. Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman, told reporters last Friday.
“It has been almost a year in which the Americans have refused to share with us their data on the location of al-Nusra militants”, the statement said. The United States has passed warnings to Syria via Russian Federation, with which the USA military has an established line of communication.
“Contrary to recent claims, we have not finalized plans on coordinated efforts”.
The US has its trooped embedded with the Kurdish forces, and argued that the Syrian airstrikes were endangering them. “Serious issues must first be resolved before we can implement the steps” considered by Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Cook said.
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Kerry and Lavrov are scheduled for another round of talks starting August 26 in Geneva.
