BEIRUT, June 9 (Reuters) - Syrian troops and allied militia in the southeast Syrian desert reached the Iraqi border on Friday, near the Tanf base where U.S. special forces train local rebels to fight Islamic State, a pro-government commander said.

The advance follows an escalation of tensions between the United States and the Syrian government with its backers over control of the southeastern frontier with Iraq.

"The first units of the army and its allies arrived to the Syrian-Iraqi border northeast of al-Tanf," said the non-Syrian commander in a military alliance fighting in support of President Bashar al-Assad.

The area is seen as crucial to Assad's Iranian allies and could open an overland supply route from Tehran to Iraq, Syria and Lebanon - a major concern to U.S. allies in the region.

A range of Iranian-backed militias from the region, including the Lebanese Hezbollah group, have supported the Syrian government in the six-year war against rebel groups.

The Tanf base lies in the Syrian Badia, a vast sparsely populated desert territory that stretches to the Jordanian and Iraqi borders. Damascus has declared the Badia region a military priority.

Months of advances by U.S.-backed rebels against Islamic State have allowed them to secure swathes of territory in the Badia, alarming the Syrian government and its allies.

The Americans had blocked them through rebel groups in the area, the commander said, so the Syrian army and allied forces opened a new route and pressed on to the border.

"It's a message to everyone," he said without elaborating.

The pro-Assad alliance had threatened this week to hit U.S. positions in Syria, warning that "self-restraint" over American air strikes would end if Washington crossed "red lines".

The U.S. launched air strikes on Tuesday against pro-government forces that it said posed a threat to American forces and the Syrian rebel groups they support in the area, the second such strike in recent weeks.

Hezbollah's al-Manar television channel said on Friday the army and its allies had "expanded their area of control" in the Badia.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitoring group, said dozens of soldiers and pro-government forces had arrived at the border.

They reached a point nearly 50 km north of al-Tanf, after going through the desert around the area held by U.S.-backed rebels, it said. (Reporting by Laila Bassam and Ellen Francis, editing by Ed Osmond)</s>The United States military shot down a suspected pro-regime drone that fired on coalition forces in southern Syria on Thursday, according to the U.S.-led coalition spokesperson.

Colonel Ryan Dillon said that the drone was armed and fired on coalition forces operating outside of the de-confliction zone around Al Tanf. There were no coalition casualties, Dillon said during a briefing in Baghdad.

The drone was similar to a U.S. MQ-1 Predator, he said.

U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a statement later Thursday that the pro-regime drone was shot down by U.S. aircraft after it dropped one of several weapons it was carrying near a position occupied by coalition personnel who were training and advising ground forces there in the fight against ISIS.

The U.S. also conducted strikes against two technical vehicles Thursday morning,which were pick-up trucks with weapons that posed a threat to the U.S. and the coalition forces at Al Tanf Garrison, Dillon said.

This is the third set of strikes the U.S. has conducted in defense of U.S. and coalition forces at Al Tanf. The three were an air to ground strike on May 18, air to ground on June 6 , and one air to ground on the trucks and and one air to air on the drone on Thursday.

CENTCOM said in its statement that the coalition "does not seek to fight Syrian regime, Russian or pro-regime forces partnered with them," but added that "the demonstrated hostile intent and actions of pro-regime forces near Coalition and partner forces in southern Syria, however, continue to concern us and the Coalition will take appropriate measures to protect our forces."

The airstrike in May appeared to be the first publicly known direct confrontation between U.S. forces and fighters loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.</s>The United States on Tuesday struck pro-government forces in Syria with airstrikes for the second time in less than three weeks, declaring them a threat to anti-Islamic State coalition fighters and allied troops training at a camp in the south of the country.

The strikes came after complicated and messy discussions that reflected Syria's crowded battlefield and the wide array of forces fighting for a piece of the embattled country.

The day began when forces supporting Syrian President Bashar Assad were attacked by what the U.S.-led coalition believes were Syrian fighters not affiliated with the coalition. It was not immediately clear exactly who was part of the attacking force, said one U.S. official, but casualties resulted. The U.S. had been urging the pro-Assad forces to leave the area near the camp.

Then, after talks with Russian officials, the U.S. agreed to allow pro-Assad forces to repel the attack and remove their wounded, said the official, who wasn't authorized to speak publicly on the matter and demanded anonymity.

But soon afterward, more pro-Assad forces began entering the area with anti-aircraft weapons and bulldozers that the coalition said were not part of the agreement or needed to treat or remove the wounded. The coalition issued warnings through its "de-confliction" line with Russia, but the official said those were ignored.

The U.S. doesn't speak directly with Assad's government, which it accuses of various atrocities over more than six years of civil war. Instead, it addresses problems with Syria indirectly, usually through Russian officials. Russia is a military ally of Assad's government.

According to a coalition statement, at least 60 pro-Assad fighters were about 25 miles from the coalition training area at Tanf, which is inside a protected zone near Syria's southern border with Jordan. A number of the fighters have been in that area since a previous U.S. airstrike on pro-Assad forces on May 18.

A second U.S. official said airstrikes destroyed two artillery pieces and an anti-aircraft weapon and damaged a tank. It wasn't clear how many forces were killed, said the official, who also was not authorized to discuss details of the operation publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Officials said some pro-Assad forces likely remain in the area. It wasn't clear how many are there or whether they might be preparing to leave.

U.S. officials haven't identified the forces exactly, but they have described them as being backed or directed by Iran. It's not clear whether they're Iranian soldiers, Hezbollah members, Syrian troops or part of another militia.

The day's first attack came as a U.S.-backed Syrian force began an offensive to capture the northern city of Raqqa, the Islamic State's self-declared capital, after months of clearing operations. A U.S. commander said the battle will be long and difficult, but success would deliver a decisive blow to the idea of the Islamic State extremist group as a physical caliphate.

By early afternoon, opposition activists said, U.S.-backed fighters were trying to break into the city from the east, triggering intense clashes.

Raqqa was among the first cities captured by the Islamic State, in January 2014, and has been the home of some of the group's most prominent leaders.

Talal Sillo, a spokesman for the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, told reporters that operations have begun in coordination with the U.S.-led coalition.

"We declare today the beginning of the great battle to liberate the city of Raqqa, the alleged capital of terrorism and terrorists," Sillo said at a news conference held in northern Syria. "Morale is high, and military readiness to implement the military plan is complete, in coordination with the U.S.-led coalition."

Syrian Democratic Forces fighters began advancing toward Raqqa in November, capturing wide areas of northern Syria from the extremists. Last week, they reached the northern and eastern gates of the city after intense clashes under the cover of U.S.-led airstrikes.

Raqqa is currently cut off from the east, north and west, and opposition activists have reported intense shelling and airstrikes on the city since Monday night, which killed at least 12 people.

The Islamic State has been fortifying its positions in Raqqa for months, setting up barriers and hanging sheets of cloth over main streets to provide cover from warplanes. A belt of land mines and militant checkpoints circles the city.

Information for this article was contributed by Suzan Fraser and staff members of The Associated Press.</s>Damascus - A military alliance fighting in support of President Bashar al-Assad said on Wednesday it could hit US positions in Syria, warning that its “self-restraint” over US air strikes on government forces would end if Washington crossed “red lines”.

The threat came in a statement in the name of the “commander of the operations room of the forces allied to Syria”, and was circulated by a military news unit run by the Lebanese group Hezbollah, one of Assad’s military allies.

Assad’s allies also include Iran and Russia. The statement did not spell out whether Moscow was a signatory to it.

“America knows well that the blood of the sons of Syria, the Syrian Arab Army, and its allies are not cheap, and the capacity to strike their positions in Syria, and their surroundings, is available when circumstances will it,” the statement said.

The United States launched air strikes on Tuesday against what it said were Iranian-backed fighters who it said posed a threat to US and US-backed forces in southern Syria, the second such attack in three weeks.

Tuesday’s air strike launched by the United States in Syria against Iranian-backed fighters who support the Damascus regime violates international law, Interfax news agency quoted Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov as saying on Wednesday.

A Syrian military source said the strike had caused deaths and material damage and showed the coalition was “in support of terrorism”. The Syrian military command warned against the dangers of escalation, the source added.

The US military had repeatedly warned massing forces to stay away from a so-called “de-escalation” zone near a garrison used by American special forces and US-backed fighters around the southern town of At Tanf.

Meanwhile, the United States launched an air strike against Iranian-backed fighters who it said posed a threat to US and US-backed forces in southern Syria, in a new escalation of tensions between Washington and troops supporting Damascus.

The Pentagon, which has sought to stay out of Syria’s civil war to instead focus its firepower on Islamic State militants in Syria and Iraq, carried out a similar strike on May 18 that was denounced by Damascus.

A Syrian military source said the strike had caused deaths and material damage and showed the coalition was “in support of terrorism”. The Syrian military command warned against the dangers of escalation, the source added.

In recent days, the US military has repeatedly warned massing forces to stay away from a so-called “de-confliction” zone near a garrison used by American special forces and US-backed fighters around the southern town of At Tanf.

The zone was agreed with Russia, Syrian President Bashar al Assad’s ally. Assad is also backed by Iran and Shi’ite militias.

“Despite previous warnings, pro-regime forces entered the agreed-upon de-confliction zone with a tank, artillery, anti-aircraft weapons, armed technical vehicles and more than 60 soldiers,” the US-led coalition said in a statement.

It said the United States, via a military hotline with Russia, issued several warnings before the strike, which destroyed two artillery pieces, an anti-aircraft weapon and damaged the tank.

A US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed the strike was carried out by manned, US aircraft.

“The Coalition does not seek to fight Syrian regime or pro-regime forces but remains ready to defend themselves if pro-regime forces refuse to vacate the de-confliction zone,” the statement said.

Still, the incident showed that the area around the Tanf garrison in southern Syria was under growing pressure.

Tanf is part of a region known as the Badia, which consists of vast, sparsely populated desert territory that stretches all the way to the Jordanian and Iraqi borders and was declared a military priority by Syria’s foreign minister earlier in May.

US-backed rebel advances against Islamic State militants have allowed them to secure swaths of territory in the Badia, alarming the Syrian government and its allies.

US-backed rebels took Tanf from Islamic State last year, and regional intelligence sources say they mean to use it as a launchpad to capture Bukamal, a town on Syria’s border with Iraq and an important militant supply route.

The coalition’s presence in Tanf, on the Damascus-Baghdad highway, was also meant to stop Iran-backed groups from opening an overland route between Iraq and Syria, the sources say.

In interviews with Syrian state-owned TV station al-Ikhbariya broadcast on Saturday, Syrian soldiers vowed they would reopen the Baghdad-Damascus highway.

“Within a few days, you will find us at the Iraqi border, and we will achieve a great and historic victory in the history of this crisis - cleansing the entire Badia, liberating the Tanf road ... and restoring the vital artery between Iraq and Syria,” said one of the soldiers interviewed by the state TV channel in the Badia area.

Western-backed rebels resumed on Tuesday a heavy barrage of rocket attacks on Iranian-backed militia outposts along the Baghdad-Damscus Baghdad highway.

The United States sought to keep all sides focused on battling Islamic State, or ISIS.

“The Coalition calls on all parties in southern Syria to focus their efforts on the defeat of ISIS, which is our common enemy and the greatest threat to regional and worldwide peace and security,” the statement said.</s>The United States military shot down a suspected pro-regime drone that fired on coalition forces in southern Syria on Thursday, according to the U.S.-led coalition spokesperson.

Colonel Ryan Dillon said that the drone was armed and fired on coalition forces operating outside of the de-confliction zone around Al Tanf. There were no coalition casualties, Dillon said during a briefing in Baghdad.

The drone was similar to a U.S. MQ-1 Predator, he said.

U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a statement later Thursday that the pro-regime drone was shot down by U.S. aircraft after it dropped one of several weapons it was carrying near a position occupied by coalition personnel who were training and advising ground forces there in the fight against ISIS.

The U.S. also conducted strikes against two technical vehicles Thursday morning,which were pick-up trucks with weapons that posed a threat to the U.S. and the coalition forces at Al Tanf Garrison, Dillon said.

This is the third set of strikes the U.S. has conducted in defense of U.S. and coalition forces at Al Tanf. The three were an air to ground strike on May 18, air to ground on June 6 , and one air to ground on the trucks and and one air to air on the drone on Thursday.

CENTCOM said in its statement that the coalition "does not seek to fight Syrian regime, Russian or pro-regime forces partnered with them," but added that "the demonstrated hostile intent and actions of pro-regime forces near Coalition and partner forces in southern Syria, however, continue to concern us and the Coalition will take appropriate measures to protect our forces."

The airstrike in May appeared to be the first publicly known direct confrontation between U.S. forces and fighters loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.</s>The Pentagon has confirmed that US Air Force jets have targeted and hit a convoy of Syrian Arab Army soldiers along with their allies in southern Syria.

According to the United States, the Syrian and allied forces had breached a de-escalation zone inside of which US troops and its allied jihadist forces were stationed.

A statement from the US read,

This incident is extremely similar to one which occurred on the 18th of May, also in southern Syria near the Jordanian and Iraqi borders.

“Despite previous warnings, pro-regime forces entered the agreed-upon de-confliction zone with a tank, artillery, anti-aircraft weapons, armed technical vehicles and more than 60 soldiers posing a threat to the Coalition and partner forces based at the At Tanf Garrison. The Coalition issued several warnings via the de-confliction line prior to destroying two artillery pieces, an anti-aircraft weapon, and damaging a tank”.

It will be crucial to see if the Russian and Syrian version of events matches that of the US. According to initial reports, Russia attempted to get both sides to stand-down, but as it was on the 18th of May neither side listened. This is merely a sign of the fact that Russia does not seek to impose control over any troops in Syria other than its own, a long stated policy of the Russian government and Russian Defence Ministry.

During the attack on the 18th of May, the United States killed a combination of Syrian Arab Army soldiers, Hezbollah Resistance fighters and Shi’a volunteers from Iraq as well as Syria.

At that time, the Syrian Arab Republic stated that they consider a strike on allied forces equal to a strike on Syrian soldiers. This is of course correct thinking and it also affirms that America’s mere presence in addition to being illegal, allows for war crimes such as what happened today as well as on the 18th of May to occur.

Tragic and illegal though this event is, one must be cautious before thinking that such attacks are part of a larger US scheme.

The US is indeed scheme with Kurdish forces to occupy areas in the north and east of Syria, but the recent US war crimes in the south of Syria, are best understood as over-zealous local American commanders making a point that Syria still needs to perversely ‘respect’ illegal occupiers on their land.

It is not a wholesome situation to put it mildly, but it should not be confused with a more premeditated or concerted effort to engage in open combat with Syrian soldiers and their allies.

In this sense, the statement saying as much was a rare moment of honesty from the US. If one wants to know about what the US really is scheming at in Syria, one should pay attention to Raqqa and Kurdish regions, not the south.

READ MORE: US strikes on Raqqa are related to the Qatar crisis</s>A drone suspected of belonging to forces supporting President Bashar al-Assad's regime fired on coalition troops in southeastern Syria before they shot it down, an official said Thursday.

No coalition forces were hurt in the exchanges with the drone, coalition spokesman Colonel Ryan Dillon told Pentagon reporters in a video-conference from Baghdad.

Dillon said the troops also fired at two pro-regime vehicles that were "assessed to be a threat" near At-Tanf in Syria.

The incident was the third between pro-regime forces and the coalition near At-Tanf since mid-May.</s></s>WASHINGTON, June 8 (Reuters) - The United States shot down a pro-Syrian government drone that fired toward U.S.-led coalition forces in Syria on Thursday, a U.S. military spokesman said, in a major escalation of tensions between Washington and troops supporting Damascus.

The armed drone "hit dirt" and there were no injuries or damage done to the coalition patrol in southern Syria. But U.S. Army Colonel Ryan Dillon, a spokesman for the U.S.-led coalition fighting Islamic State, told reporters the drone meant to attack them and dismissed the possibility it had fired a warning shot.

Dillon said the United States had earlier carried out a strike against pick-up trucks with weapons that had moved against U.S.-backed fighters near the southern town of At Tanf.

It was the third such strike in as many weeks by the Pentagon, which has sought to stay out of Syria's civil war to focus firepower instead on Islamic State in Syria and Iraq.

On Tuesday, the United States launched an air strike against Iranian-backed fighters who it said posed a threat to U.S. and U.S.-backed forces in southern Syria.

A military alliance fighting in support of President Bashar al-Assad threatened on Wednesday to hit U.S. positions in Syria, warning its "self-restraint" over U.S. air strikes would end if Washington crossed "red lines".

In recent days, the U.S. military has repeatedly warned massing forces to stay away from a 'deconfliction zone' near a garrison used by American special forces and U.S.-backed fighters around At Tanf.

The zone was agreed with Russia, Syrian President Bashar al Assad's ally. Assad is also backed by Iran and Shi'ite militias.

Tanf is part of a region known as the Badia, a vast, sparsely populated desert territory that stretches to the Jordanian and Iraqi borders and was declared a military priority by Syria's foreign minister in May. (Reporting by Idrees Ali and Phil Stewart; Editing by James Dalgleish)</s>Story highlights This is the first time pro-Syrian regime forces have fired on the US-led coalition

The "munition did not have an effect on coalition forces," according to a spokesman

Washington (CNN) US aircraft shot down an Iranian-made drone that fired on coalition forces patrolling with partner forces in southern Syria, a coalition spokesman told reporters on Thursday.

This is the first time that pro-Syrian regime forces -- which the US says includes Iranian-backed Shia militias -- have fired on the US-led coalition.

A US official told CNN that a US F-15 jet shot down the Iranian-made Shahed 129 drone, which was being controlled from a location in Syria north of At Tanf.

It was shot down after it dropped one of several weapons it was carrying near a position where coalition personnel are training and advising partner ground forces in the fight against ISIS.

The "munition did not have an effect on coalition forces," according to spokesman Col. Ryan Dillon.

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Shortly after bombing Syrian government and allied troops near Al-Tanf, the United States shot down an Iranian-made Syrian government drone that was flying toward U.S.-led coalition forces in southern Syria. There are no injuries or damage. An American official says this is first time forces supporting Damascus have attacked coalition troops.