Lt. Gen. Alex Grynkewich, head of U.S. Air Forces Central Command, said in a statement that during the Friday encounter, the Russian planes “flew 18 unprofessional close passes that caused the MQ-9s to react to avoid unsafe situations.”
The first friction occurred Wednesday morning when Russian military aircraft “engaged in unsafe and unprofessional behavior” as three American MQ-9 drones were conducting a mission against IS, the U.S. military said. On Thursday, the against both French and U.S. aircraft over Syria.
U.S. officials said the drones were unarmed in the earlier flights, but were carrying weapons on Friday, as they were hunting al-Muhajir.
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