U.S. F-16 shoots down Turkish drone flying over American troops in Syria

A U.S. F-16 fighter jet shot down a Turkish drone that was flying over a base in northeast Syria where American forces are located, a Pentagon spokesperson said Thursday.

At 7:30 a.m. local time, U.S. forces observed unmanned aerial systems conducting airstrikes near Hasakah, in northeast Syria, including some just a kilometer away from the American troops, Pentagon spokesperson Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder told reporters during a briefing. The airstrikes were inside a declared U.S. restricted operating zone, and the troops relocated to bunkers, he said.

Then at 11:30 a.m., a Turkish drone reentered the restricted zone, heading toward where U.S. troops were located, Ryder said. American commanders assessed that the drone, which was now less than half a kilometer away from U.S. troops, was a potential threat, Ryder said. American F-16 fighter jets shot down the drone at roughly 11:40 a.m.

Turkey has recently stepped up attacks on Kurdish forces in Iraq and Syria after Kurdish militants claimed responsibility for a bomb attack in Ankara on Sunday. Turkey views the Syrian Democratic Forces as a wing of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, which numerous nations have designated a terrorist organization.

The downing of a drone belonging to a NATO ally is certain to escalate tensions between Washington and Ankara, which has long been unhappy with U.S. support for the SDF.

Before the shooting down the drone on Thursday, U.S. officials communicated with the Turkish military and warned that U.S. forces had the right to self-defense, Ryder said.

No U.S. forces were injured during the incident, and the Pentagon has no indication that Turkey was intentionally targeting U.S. troops, he stressed.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke by phone with his Turkish counterpart after the incident. During the call, he said the U.S. is in Syria only to hunt Islamic State terrorists, Ryder said.

"The Secretary also acknowledged Turkey's legitimate security concerns and underscored the importance of close coordination between the United States and Turkey to prevent any risk to US forces or the global coalition to defeat ISIS mission," Ryder said.

New Joint Chiefs Chair Gen. CQ Brown, who stepped into the job on Monday, also spoke with his Turkish counterpart, Gen. Metin Gürak, on Thursday after the incident, according to his spokesperson Col. Dave Butler. The two discussed "the need to follow common deconfliction protocols to ensure the safety of our personnel in Syria following today’s incident," Butler said.

Ryder noted that when it comes to northern Syria, DOD remains concerned "about the potential impacts of military escalation in that region," citing impact to the civilian population and "our ability to maintain focus on rooting out ISIS."

A Turkish official on Wednesday said Turkish forces discovered two terrorists who had arrived in Turkey from Syria and warned that infrastructure and energy facilities in Syria and Iraq affiliated with PKK or the YPG, the Turkish name for the SDF, are now “legitimate targets.”

The drone, which belonged to the Turkish government, was armed with air-to-ground missiles, said a person familiar with the situation, who was granted anonymity to discuss a sensitive topic. The uncrewed aerial vehicle was a Bayraktar TB2, a medium-altitude, long-endurance drone built by Turkish defense company Baykar for use primarily by the Turkish armed forces, the person said. The Turkish defense ministry reportedly denied it owned the drone.

Just hours before the shootdown, a senior U.S. general told reporters the U.S. and Turkey have a "good" military relationship, noting that "we've got open communications with the Turkish Air Operations Center, I've got a liaison team that actually sits in their air operation center."

"We try very hard to keep things flat in terms of where operations are going and mitigate the risks to our forces," said Lt. Gen. Alexus Grynkewich, head of U.S. Air Forces Central Command, on Wednesday. But "we recognize that Turkey has legitimate security concerns, that their southern border is of great concern to them."

Turkey has threatened to invade northeast Syria a number of times in recent years in response to the PKK’s activity. In October 2019, Ankara launched a massive ground operation against the SDF, which killed and displaced thousands of people.

The U.S. has about 900 troops in Syria, focused on hunting Islamic State terrorists with the SDF.

A Turkish Embassy official in Washington and State Department spokesperson declined to comment. Reuters first reported the news of the shootdown.
 
Nahal Toosi contributed to this report.