Syrian army jet downed by US warplane in southern province

A US warplane shot down a Syrian army jet on Sunday, with Washington saying the jet had dropped bombs near US-backed forces.

Damascus said that the plane, downed in the southern Raqqa countryside, was flying a mission against Islamic State militants.

A Syrian army statement released on state television said the plane crashed and the pilot was missing. It said the incident took place on Sunday afternoon near a village called Rasafah.

The "flagrant attack was an attempt to undermine the efforts of the army as the only effective force capable with its allies... in fighting terrorism across its territory," the Syrian army said.

"This comes at a time when the Syrian army and its allies were making clear advances in fighting the Daesh [Islamic State] terrorist group."

Later the US Central Command issued a statement saying the Syrian plane was downed "in collective self-defence of Coalition-partnered forces," identified as fighters of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) near Tabqah.

Attempt to de-escalate

It said that "pro-Syrian regime forces" had earlier attacked an SDF held town south of Tabqa and wounded a number of fighters and driving them from the town.

Coalition aircraft, in a show of force, stopped the initial advance.

When a Syrian army SU-22 jet later dropped bombs near the US-backed forces, it was immediately shot by a U.S. F/A-18E Super Hornet, the statement said.

Before it downed the plane, the coalition had "contacted its Russian counterparts by telephone via an established "deconfliction line" to de-escalate the situation and stop the firing."

The coalition does "not seek to fight the Syrian regime, Russian or pro-regime forces" but would not "hesitate to defend itself or its "partnered forces from any threat," the statement said.

US-backed forces have encircled the city of Raqqa and captured several districts from the militants.

The Syrian army has also taken territory from retreating Islamic State militants in the western Raqqa countryside and seized back some oil fields and villages that had been under the militants' control for almost three years.