A fighter jet with the US-led coalition shot down a drone in eastern Syria on Saturday after the unmanned aircraft was deemed a threat, the US military said on Sunday, according to Reuters.
“Coalition aircraft successfully engaged and defeated a UAS through air-to-air engagement in the vicinity of Mission Support Site Green Village,” said coalition spokesperson US Army Colonel Wayne Marotto.
The US has been battling Iranian-backed militias in Iraq and Syria in recent months.
Rocket attacks have regularly targeted Iraqi bases as well as the fortified Green Zone in Baghdad, where the US embassy is located, since the US elimination of top Iranian General Qassem Soleimani last January.
In June, the US launched air strikes against three targets it said were used by pro-Iran groups in eastern Syria and western Iraq.
A day later, pro-Iranian militias fired several shells at a US base in eastern Syria's Al-Omar oil field, causing damage but no casualties.
Subsequently, a drone was intercepted and shot down near the US embassy in Baghdad. Sources said the drone failed to reach the embassy compound. There were no injuries.
Then, an explosive-laden drone attacked Erbil airport in northern Iraq. The drone reportedly targeted the US base on the airport grounds. A day later, two rockets were fired at the US embassy inside Baghdad's Green Zone.
The Pentagon later said it was deeply concerned about attacks on US personnel in Syria and Iraq.