A U.S. F-16 fighter jet shot down a combat drone belonging to Turkey, a NATO ally, on Oct. 5 over northern Syria, the Pentagon said.
Pentagon press secretary Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder repeatedly called it a “regrettable incident” during a news conference the same day.
U.S. forces observed several Turkish drones conducting armed strikes. The Turkish drones were reportedly operating in Al Hasakah, an area of northern Syria that U.S. forces had declared to be restricted. The Turkish drones reportedly flew within a kilometer (a little over a half-mile) of U.S. forces operating in the area.
At about 11:30 a.m., an armed Turkish drone again entered the restricted airspace, heading toward U.S. forces operating in the area. Gen. Ryder said U.S. forces relocated to bunkers for safety and local U.S. commanders determined that the Turkish drone posed a potential threat.
“U.S. F-16 fighters subsequently shot down the [unmanned aerial vehicle] in self-defense at approximately 11:40 a.m. local time,” Gen. Ryder said.
There were no reports of U.S. casualties in the incident.
Gen. Ryder said U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin spoke by phone with his Turkish counterpart to discuss Turkish military operations carried out in proximity to U.S. forces in Syria.
Counterterror Operations in Syria
The United States and its NATO allies have been deployed in Syria since 2014 in an effort to defeat the ISIS terrorist group. Turkey, which is located on Syria’s northern border, has participated in these counter-ISIS operations but has also carried out military operations against Kurdish forces in the region.Turkey and the United States have both designated the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) to be a terrorist organization, but the NATO allies aren’t on the same page about other primarily Kurdish paramilitary forces in Syria, such as the People’s Defense Units (YPG). The YPG is a major component of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which the United States has assisted throughout its operations in Syria.
The distinction among the PKK, YPG, and SDF has become a contentious issue for the NATO allies operating in Syria. The Turkish government considers the YPG to be a terrorist organization aligned with the PKK. By contrast, the United States hasn’t designated the YPG as a terrorist organization and has worked with the group in the past.
The Turkish government has renewed strikes against suspected PKK targets this week, after it linked the group to a suicide bombing in the Turkish capital on Oct. 1.
“All infrastructure, superstructure, and energy facilities that belong to the PKK and the YPG, especially in Iraq and Syria, are legitimate targets of our security forces, armed forces, and intelligence units from now on,” Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan announced on Oct. 4.
When asked about Mr. Fidan’s comments during a news conference on Oct. 4, U.S. State Department spokesperson Vedant Patel said the U.S. position is that the YPG and PKK are separate entities.
Gen. Ryder didn’t provide details about the targets of the Turkish military’s drone strikes on Oct. 5 and didn’t specify whether YPG or SDF elements were present in the restricted area the United States had declared around Al Hasakah.
The Pentagon spokesman also didn’t specify whether Mr. Austin had gained assurances from his Turkish counterparts that Turkish military operations in Syria wouldn’t conflict with U.S. operations in the future, but he insisted that the two NATO members have a shared understanding.
“The tone of the conversation was, again, an understanding that we are two close NATO allies and we will keep the lines of communication, that we don’t want to put our forces—each other’s forces in harm’s way, but also again, emphasizing the importance of the defeat ISIS mission,” Gen. Ryder said. “And that was a sentiment expressed on both sides.”
The Turkish Foreign Ministry didn’t respond by press time to a request by NTD for comment about the incident.
