Following the latest US attack against pro-Syrian forces in southern Syria, the nation’s Foreign Ministry has issued a statement today warning the US about the “dangers of escalation,” and demanding that they stop attacking Syrian allied forces.

The US attacked a group of what they described as “pro-regime” forces in southern Syria, in the Daraa Province. Syrian-backed forces in Daraa have recently been fighting against al-Qaeda’s Nusra Front, and other rebels. The US believed the troops were too close to a base of US allies in al-Tanf.

Syria noted they never authorized US presence in their country in the first place, and that their being around Tanf is illegitimate in the first place. On top of that, they insisted that the presence of US ground troops in Syria is serving to bolster ISIS recruitment.

This attack was the second time in the past month the US has targeted pro-Syrian forces in Daraa Province. Pentagon officials insist these are not indicative of a shift in policy, but rather amounted to purely defensive actions in attacking forces they thought might conceivably be threatening.