Washington DC [US]: A US F-16 fighter jet on Thursday shot down an armed Turkish drone that was operating near American troops in Syria, according to US officials, CBS News reported.
CBS News is the news division of the American television and radio service CBS.
The drone was shot down after repeated communications to stay away from US ground troops near Al Hasakah in northeastern Syria. This is believed to be the first time the US has shot down a drone from Turkey, a NATO ally.
The Pentagon called the incident “regrettable” but said no US forces were injured and there are no indications that Turkey intended to target US forces.
Pentagon spokesperson Brigadier General Patrick Ryder told reporters on Thursday: “It’s regrettable when you have two NATO allies and there’s an incident like this.”
At 7:30 am local time in Syria, US forces observed several drones conducting airstrikes near Al Hasakah, and some of the strikes were inside a restricted operating zone and were approximately one kilometre away from US troops, prompting them to take shelter in bunkers, Ryder said.
At 11:30 am, a Turkish drone re-entered the zone and headed toward a location near US forces.
The drone was less than half a kilometre from US troops, and commanders on the ground assessed that there was a potential threat, so they took “prudent action,” Ryder said. At approximately 11:40 am, an F-16 shot down the drone, as per CBS News.
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke with his Turkish counterpart on Thursday to discuss Turkish activity and proximity to US forces in Syria, according to a readout from the Pentagon.
General CQ Brown, Jr., the new Joint Chiefs chairman, also spoke with the chief of the general staff of the Turkish Armed Forces, General Metin Gurak on Thursday by phone, as per CBS News.
There are about 900 US troops operating in Syria as a part of the mission to defeat ISIS.
For the past several days, Turkey has been retaliating against the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) for a suicide bombing that took place in Ankara. Turkey considers the Syrian Democratic Forces – who partner with the US in the mission to defeat ISIS, as an arm of the PKK, which it has deemed a terrorist organization.
