According to the Department of Defense, an F-18 Super Hornet shot down a Syrian Su-22 jet after the village of  Ja’Din, southwest of Raqqa was bombed. The village is currently being held by Syrian Democratic Forces which the US backs in the fight against Islamic State. Several of the SDF fighters were reportedly injured in the bombing. The US Super Hornet that participated in the first air-to-air combat in over a decade was from the USS George H.W. Bush.

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

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 U.S. backed forces, it was immediately shot by a U.S. F/A-18E Super Hornet, the statement said.