U.S. F-16 Shoots Down Turkish Drone Over North Eastern Syria
A Turkish drone was shot down over north eastern Syria on Thursday, amidst a Turkish campaign of drone airstrikes in the region in retaliation for a Sunday bombing in Ankara Turkey blames on the Kurdistan Workers’ Party.
Pentagon press secretary Air Force Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder said the shootdown by a U.S. Air Force F-16 near the city of Hasakah was a “regrettable incident”. According to him, the decision was made out of “due diligence and the inherent right of self-defense to take appropriate action to protect U.S. forces”, after American troops were forced to take cover in bunkers as Turkish drones attacked nearby targets.
Ryder’s comments at a press conference came after an American official told the Wall Street Journal that the drone was shot down by an American F-16, after it was deemed a threat to American troops on the ground in the area. According to the official, American forces were aware that the drone was Turkish-operated. Another official that spoke to the Associated Press claimed that the order to shoot down the drone was given after over a dozen calls to Turkish military officials urging them to withdraw the drone from the vicinity of American troops went unheeded.
The Turkish military has denied losing a drone after initial claims of an Anka-S being shot down spread earlier on Thursday. However, the Turkish National Intelligence Organization also operates unmanned aerial vehicles such as the Anka family and Bayraktar TB2, with Turkish state media claiming that the intelligence agency had been conducting operations against Kurdistan Workers’ Party targets in Syria. The agency has yet to issue any public comments.
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan claimed on Wednesday that two alleged Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) militants responsible for the Sunday attack on the Interior Ministry building in Ankara had entered Turkey from Syria. “All infrastructure, superstructure and energy facilities that belong to the PKK and the YPG, especially in Iraq and Syria, are legitimate targets of our security forces, armed forces and intelligence units from now on”, said Fidan, who seemingly threatened Western forces partnered with the YPG in north eastern Syria to stay away from their partners.
Ankara has long claimed that the PKK and the Syrian Democratic Union Party, the parent organization of the YPG, are one and the same.
Fidan’s comments came amidst the start of the drone strike campaign, which also struck locations in northern Iraq claimed to be hideouts for the PKK. The Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria’s power authority reported on Thursday morning that Turkish drones had attacked power facilities in the Jazira Region including around Hasakah, causing major disruptions in electricity supply throughout the area bordering Turkey.
Two Turkish policemen were injured in the 1 October attack, with the two gunmen being the only deaths. One of the gunmen was shot dead, while the other was killed after detonating a suicide bomb.