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Australia has temporarily suspended air strikes in Syria following the US. downing of a Syrian military jet and the Russian reaction to it.
On Sunday, the US warplane downed a Syrian Air Force Su-22 in the area south of Tabqah in the province of Raqqah. The US-led coalition accused the Syrian Air Force of bombing Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighters in the area. However, this claim was described untrue by opposition and pro-SDF sources.
On Monday, the Russian Defense Ministry announced that it is halting all interactions with the US within the framework on the memorandum of incident prevention in Syrian skies. The ministry added that now Russian missile defense will follow any US-led coalition aircraft west of the Euphrates River.
On Tuesday, Australia’s Department of Defence said in a statement that “As a precautionary measure, Australian Defence Force (ADF) strike operations into Syria have temporarily ceased.” However, it added that “ADF personnel are closely monitoring the air situation in Syria and a decision on the resumption of ADF air operations in Syria will be made in due course.”
