US says Russian fighter jets again harass Reaper drones in Syria

Russian fighter jets have again flown dangerously close to several US MQ-9 Reaper drones operating over Syria – the second such incident of harassment in 24 hours – setting off flares and forcing Washington's unmanned aerial vehicles to take evasive manoeuvres, the United States air force said. The protest from the US air forces came as the French military said that two of its fighter jets on patrol over the Iraq-Syria border area were forced to manoeuvre "to control the risk of accident" involving a Russian Sukhoi SU-35 warplane on Thursday. The Russian aircraft had engaged in "non-professional interaction" with two of France's Rafale planes deployed to the region as part of "Operation Chammal", which seeks to contain the ISIL (ISIS) group in Iraq and Syria, the French military said. Two separate incidents on Wednesday and Thursday involving Russian warplanes and US Reaper drones were captured on video, the US said. "The events represent a new level of unprofessional and unsafe action by Russian air forces operating in Syria," the US military said.