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Executive Summary for June 9th

We review key events in Syria, including U.S. coalition forces downing a pro-government drone, Syrian warplanes striking positions of the so-called Islamic State outside Raqqa and reports of ISIS militants retreating from Raqqa in light of SDF advances.

Published on June 9, 2017 Read time Approx. 3 minutes

U.S. Shoots Down Drone That Fired at Coalition Forces

An American F-15 fighter jet downed a pro-Syrian government drone that fired on United States-backed troops in southern Syria on Thursday, the Associated Press reported.

The drone – which U.S. officials say was likely connected to Iran or the Iran-backed Hezbollah – fired on Washington-backed rebels and coalition troops conducting a routine patrol outside a protected de-escalation zone near the Tanf base, U.S. Army Col. Ryan Dillon, a spokesman for the coalition fighting the Islamic State, said in a telephone conference.

The weapon fired by the drone did not detonate and there were no injuries or damage done to the coalition patrol, but Dillon told reporters the aircraft meant to attack them.

“This clearly showed a threat even if it were a warning shot; it was something that showed a hostile intent, a hostile action and posed a threat to our forces because this drone had munitions that were still on it,” he said in a statement carried by Reuters.

Thursday’s attack, which marks the first time that forces supporting Syrian president Bashar al-Assad have attacked coalition troops in that region, came just hours after the U.S. bombed two pro-Syrian government pickup trucks carrying weapons that had moved against U.S.-backed fighters near the town of Tanf.

The assault also comes one day after Hezbollah threatened to attack American positions inside Syria if Washington crosses any “red lines.”

Syrian Warplanes Strike ISIS Stronghold

Positions of the so-called Islamic State in the western Raqqa countryside were struck by Syrian government air raids on Thursday, Reuters reported, citing state media.

Warplanes destroyed ISIS positions and armored vehicles about 44 miles (70km) from the city, said the state-run news agency, SANA.

Thursday’s strikes targeted areas near Raqqa’s provincial border, along a highway linking the ISIS stronghold to Aleppo.

Syrian government forces and affiliated paramilitary groups reached the provincial borders of Raqqa earlier this week, after securing positions on the western banks of the Euphrates in Aleppo.

The United Kingdom-based monitor, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), said that recent advances were part of a government attempt to clear out ISIS positions in Raqqa’s western countryside.

The government advance coincides with the invigorated push by the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) toward Raqqa’s provincial capital.

ISIS Retreating From Raqqa’s Outskirts

ISIS militants have been retreating from Raqqa’s outskirts in the face of advances by the SDF, Reuters reported Thursday.

Col. Joseph Scrocca, a spokesman for the U.S. coalition fighting ISIS, said in a statement sent to Reuters that the militants’ resistance had been “minimal” outside Raqqa and they were retreating “to protect their fortifications inside the city.”

SOHR said that militants were digging trenches and tunnels in the al-Mishlab neighborhood, in Raqqa’s southeastern outskirts, the first district the SDF reached earlier this week.

The SDF, a Washington-backed alliance of Arab and Kurdish fighters, launched a campaign to reclaim Raqqa city on Tuesday. The Kurdish-led force has been advancing on the ISIS stronghold from the west, north and southeast.

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