A U.S. fighter jet shot down a Turkish drone on Thursday after it flew near American troops operating in northeast Syria, two U.S. defense officials said.
The unusual military encounter between two NATO allies came after a similar incident earlier in the day. No troops were injured, and there is no indication that the Turks were intentionally targeting U.S. servicemembers, the officials said.
At about 7:30 a.m. local time, two Turkish drones armed with air to ground weapons flew near U.S. troops near Hasakah, Syria, where American forces are operating to fight the Islamic State terrorist group.
The Pentagon’s press secretary, Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder, said the Turkish drones were flying as close as 1 kilometer away (6.2 miles) from the U.S. troops early this morning, and they were conducting airstrikes that were so close to U.S. troops that the Americans took shelter in bunkers.
After the U.S. reached out to Turkey multiple times at various levels and warned that the drones were flying and dropping bombs near American troops, the drone left the area, according to the two defense officials.
About four hours after the first incident, an armed drone approached the area again, and the U.S. sent F-16s to intercept it. One of the fighter jets shot down the Turkish drone with an air-to-air missile, the officials said.
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Air Force Gen. Charles Q. Brown, both spoke with their Turkish counterparts about the incident Thursday morning, the officials said.
Speaking at a Pentagon briefing Thursday afternoon, Ryder declined to say whether the Turks provided any assurances that they would not fly near U.S. troops again, but did say the conversation was productive.
Ryder said the U.S. shot down the drone in “self-defense” and described it as a “regrettable incident.”
There was no immediate comment from Turkey on the shooting of the drone.
But the country’s state-run Anadolu Agency reported that the Turkish intelligence service had carried out an operation against the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, and its affiliated Kurdish militia group in Syria, which is known as People’s Defense Units, or YPG, The Associated Press reported. The Anadolu Agency report said the Turks had struck suspected arms and ammunition depots and buildings believed to have been used by the groups’ “sabotage” teams, according to the AP. It did not provide further details on the operation.
The U.S. military partners with the Syrian Democratic Forces, or SDF, in Syria, which are composed primarily of Arab and Kurdish fighters. Defense officials would not speculate about whether the Turkish drones could have been targeting any SDF personnel.
On Wednesday, Turkey carried out airstrikes in Iraq and Syria against Kurdish militant targets following a suicide attack near Turkish government buildings in Ankara earlier in the week.
