Story highlights A US military official told CNN that the incident took place approximately two weeks ago

The US and Russia have sought ways to ensure that their respective personnel are not targeted by mistake

Washington (CNN) A Russian fighter jet recently conducted an "unprofessional" intercept of a US KC-10 tanker aircraft in the skies over Syria, prompting Russian officers to apologize, Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Harrigian told reporters at the Pentagon Wednesday.

A US military official told CNN that the incident took place approximately two weeks ago and that the Russian fighter had performed a "barrel roll" over the US plane. The official added that the US assesses the pilot was acting on his own initiative in performing the action.

Harrigian, who oversees US air forces in the region, said that the Russians apologized for that particular incident after the coalition communicated its displeasure about the unprofessional intercept.

"We had one incident where there was an intercept they ran that I would categorize as unprofessional, and we called them on it and expressed our concern," Harrigian said, adding, "they came back, quite frankly, and apologized for that particular intercept."

Despite the intercept, Harrigian said the coalition had been effectively de-conflicting with the Russians, saying that it was the only incident in recent months where there were any "issues."

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