MOSCOW, May 23. /TASS/. Aircraft of the US-led international coalition violated Syrian airspace in the Al-Tanf zone eight times over the past 24 hours, the deputy chief of the Russian Center for Reconciliation of the Opposing Parties in Syria (a division of the Russian Defense Ministry) said.
"Over the past 24 hours, eight violations were registered in the Al-Tanf zone, committed by two pairs of F-15 fighters, a pair of Rafale fighter jets and a pair of A-10 Thunderbolt attack aircraft of the coalition," Maj. Gen. Yury Popov said.
Besides, seven violations of the December 9, 2019 deconfliction protocols on the part of the coalition were registered in the reported period. These violations were related to flights of unmanned aerial vehicles that were not coordinated with the Russian side.
In Popov's words, such actions set a dangerous precedent for air incidents and accidents, and escalate the general situation in Syria’s airspace.
In a separate development, seven shelling attacks on positions held by Syria’s pro-government forces were registered in the Idlib de-escalation zone: six in the country’s Idlib province and one in the Latakia province. They came from positions held by members of the Jabhat al-Nusra and the Islamic Party of Turkestan terrorist groups (both outlawed in Russia).