A Turkish strike UAV reportedly endangered American troops in northern Syria
An American fighter jet shot down a Turkish strike drone over northern Syria on Thursday, the Pentagon has officially confirmed. The Anka-S UAV was said to have approached the area in Hasakah province where US forces were operating.
The drone was deemed a “potential threat” and was brought down by fire from a F-16 fighter, AFP reported quoting the US Department of Defense.
The confirmation came after an unnamed US official told the Wall Street Journal that the Turkish drone had been armed with air-to-ground missiles and was destroyed “as American troops were conducting operations nearby.”
Unconfirmed reports spoke of a F-35 from the 421st Fighter Squadron being responsible for the kill. The 421st operates both F-35s and F-16s, however.
The Turkish Defense Ministry denied that the drone was one of theirs, but officials who spoke with the WSJ said the US military had confirmed the UAV’s provenance and acted in full awareness of it. Thursday’s incident is the first time the US has shot down an aircraft belonging to Türkiye, a member of NATO and a military ally of Washington.
Turkish drones had been bombing the positions of Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), the US-backed group controlling northeastern Syria, in reprisal for Sunday’s terrorist bombing in Ankara claimed by Kurdish militants.
Türkiye considers the YPG militia in Syria the extension of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which it has designated a terrorist group. YPG fighters make up the majority of SDF forces, and have recently clashed with their Arab colleagues in the Deir-ez-Zor province.
An estimated 900 US troops are currently in Syria, helping the SDF control agricultural land and oil wells in territories captured from Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS) terrorists years ago. The government in Damascus has denounced their presence as illegal and accused Washington of stealing Syrian oil, to which the US has not responded.
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