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U.S. forces in Syria on Thursday shot down a Turkish drone flying overhead after the aircraft flew too close to American troops on the ground, the Pentagon said.
U.S. officials told The Associated Press that the drone was flying in an “unsafe” and “unsynchronized” manner before it was shot down near Hasakah, Syria, by a U.S. F-16 fighter jet. The incident represents a rare clash between two NATO allies. Pentagon officials Thursday called it a “regrettable incident” that occurred after the Turkish drone came within about a third of a mile from American positions.
“Commanders assessed the [drone], which was now less than half a kilometer from U.S. forces, to be a potential threat. U.S. F-16 fighters subsequently shot down the UAV in self-defense at approximately 11:40 local time,” Pentagon spokesman Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder told reporters.
“U.S. commanders on the ground did assess that there was a potential threat so they took prudent action in this scenario,” he said.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke to his Turkish counterpart after the incident, Brig. Gen. Ryder said, and the two men reiterated their commitment to coordinate military activities in the area.
The incident was a reflection of the confusing collision of forces in Syria after more than a decade of civil war. The government of Syrian President Bashar Assad, with help from Russia and Iran, has reclaimed much of the country. However, a rebel force remains in control in a key northern province. The U.S. counterterror force is based near the Iraqi border, and Syrian Kurds are allied with the American mission while battling the Turkish government.
On the same day as the shootdown, a separate, apparently unrelated drone attack hit a crowded Syrian military graduation ceremony Thursday in the city of Homs, killing 80 people and wounding 240. It was one of the deadliest attacks on the country’s army in years.
Syria’s military said in an earlier statement that drones laden with explosives targeted the ceremony packed with young officers and their families as it was wrapping up. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.
Brig. Gen. Ryder told reporters that the Turkish drone was conducting airstrikes inside the U.S.-restricted operating zone in northern Syria, apparently in retaliation for a suicide bomb attack against Turkey’s Interior Ministry building earlier this week.
The PKK, the militant Turkey-based Kurdish separatist movement that has long battled the Ankara government, claimed responsibility for the attack, timed for the opening of a new session of the Turkish parliament. Turkish officials said the attackers had received training and other support from Syrian Kurdish groups.
Turkish warplanes began their retaliation Wednesday with a round of airstrikes against nearly two dozen Kurdish militant targets in northern Iraq, the Turkish defense ministry said.
On Thursday, the retaliation continued and led to the incident with American forces. Turkish intelligence targeted what it said were PKK elements in northern Syria, according to Turkey’s Anadolu news agency, aiming for “weapons and ammunition warehouses” used by the group, along with “terrorist attack and sabotage units.”
The Turkish attacks and the drone shootdown are the latest source of strain in the U.S.-Turkey relationship over Kurdish groups in the region.
Turkey has long been critical of the PKK, a rebel group with links to the Syrian Democratic Forces, or SDF, and has cast some of its elements as terrorists. The SDF has been the chief U.S. partner in the years-long fight against the terror group the Islamic State in Syria.
There are about 900 American troops in Syria right now with the stated mission of battling the Islamic State.
The divide over the SDF and its links to groups that Turkey considers to be terrorists also has directly impacted NATO.
As a NATO member, Turkey must approve any new members. Ankara objected to efforts to bring both Finland and Sweden into the alliance over concerns that the two Scandinavian countries hadn’t taken a hard enough line against the PKK.
Turkey eventually relented after the two countries agreed to take a host of steps to satisfy Ankara’s concerns. Finland formally joined NATO earlier this year. Sweden is on track to become a full member.
• Mike Glenn can be reached at mglenn@washingtontimes.com.
• Ben Wolfgang can be reached at bwolfgang@washingtontimes.com.
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