US shoots down Turkish drone near its troops in Syria. Details here
Turkey's National Intelligence Agency carried out strikes in Syria against Kurdish militant targets after a bomb attack in Ankara last weekend, a Turkish security source said on Thursday. On Thursday night, Turkish military air strikes destroyed 30 Kurdish militant targets in northern Syria, including an oil well, a storage facility and shelters, and "neutralised" many militants, the Turkish defence ministry said. Pentagon spokesman Brigadier General Pat Ryder said Turkish drones had been seen carrying out airstrikes in Hasakah, Syria, on Thursday morning about 1 km away from U.S.
troops. A few hours later a Turkish drone came within less than a half a kilometer (0.3 miles) of U.S. troops and was deemed a threat and shot down by F-16 aircraft.
"We have no indication that the Turkey was intentionally targeting U.S. forces," Ryder told reporters. Hasakah is in northeastern Syria and the mainly Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) is the spearhead of the main ally of the U.S.-led coalition against Islamic State, also called Daesh.
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke with his Turkish counterpart, a call Ryder said was "fruitful." The Turkish Defense Ministry said on social media platform X that its minister Yasar Guler had told Austin that "Turkey is ready for a joint fight with the USA against Daesh." "Both Ministers emphasized the importance of close coordination of U.S. and Turkish elements in activities carried out in the region," it added.
U.S.-Turkish relations are in a delicate moment, with the United States hoping Turkey will ratify NATO membership for Sweden. While the United States has not shot down a Turkish aircraft before, tensions have flared and there have been close calls. In 2019, U.S.
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