Story highlights The close encounter comes only a day after two Syrian warplanes attacked the Kurds

The American aircraft are part of the beefed-up US air combat patrols in the area

(CNN) Two American F-22s on patrol over Hasakah, Syria, flew within a mile of two Syrian Su-24 fighter jets and "encouraged" them to leave Friday, a US defense official told CNN.

The close encounter comes only a day after two Syrian warplanes attacked the Kurds, a key US ally, forcing US special operations forces to be withdrawn from their position in northern Syria.

The American aircraft are part of the beefed-up US air combat patrols in the area that the Pentagon had announced following Thursday's attack.

The pilots of the F-22 Raptors tried to call the Syrian aircraft cockpit-to-cockpit but got no response, the US official added.

US defense officials had told CNN earlier that the military had pulled US special operations forces from their northern Syria position after the Syrian military began bombing nearby, attacking Kurdish positions in and around the city of Hasakah.

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