Australia suspends airstrikes in Syria after US shoots down Syrian army jet

Thomson Reuters

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australia said on Tuesday it was suspending air strikes into Syria following the U.S. downing of a Syrian military jet on Sunday and Russia's subsequent threat against U.S.-led coalition aircraft.

"As a precautionary measure, Australian Defence Force (ADF) strike operations into Syria have temporarily ceased," Australia's Department of Defence said in a statement.

Russia said on Monday it would treat U.S.-led coalition aircraft flying west of the River Euphrates in Syria as potential targets and track them with missile systems and military aircraft, but stopped short of saying it would shoot them down.

Russia made clear it was changing its military posture in response to the U.S. downing of a Syrian military jet on Sunday, something Damascus said was the first such incident since the start of the country's conflict in 2011. 

(Reporting by James Regan; editing by Nick Macfie)

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