US fighter jet shoots down NATO-ally Turkish drone over Syria: Reports

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Wall Street Journal
5 Oct 2023 19:56
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According to an unnamed source, the drone was considered a threat to US occupation forces in northeastern Syria.

A Turkish Anka-S drone shot down by a US Air Force F-16 in Al-Hasakah northern Syria. The drone reportedly attempted to fly over the US Tel Baydar base. (Social media)

A US fighter jet shot down a Turkish drone over Syria on Thursday, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal that cited an anonymous source.

The US knew that the Turkish drone was armed before it was shot down, according to a US official quoted in the report.

The drone was considered a threat to US occupation forces in northeastern Syria.

BREAKING:

An American F-16 fighter jet just shot down a Turkish Anka-S drone over Syria after it was deemed a threat to U.S. forces in the area.

The drone had earlier bombed SDF (Kurdish) positions.

It's the first time ever that the U.S. shoots down a Turkish aircraft pic.twitter.com/NRjFdae0kD
— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) October 5, 2023

#BREAKING 🔥 A Turkish Anka-S drone shot down by a US Air Force F-16 in Al-Hasakah northern Syria. The drone tried to fly over the US Tel Baydar base. pic.twitter.com/CWkw3q1qrE
— Baba Banaras™ (@RealBababanaras) October 5, 2023

But the Turkish Defense Ministry has denied that the drone was one of its own, according to US media reports.

It is worth noting that Turkish forces occasionally target areas under the control of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in northern and northeastern Syria.

Earlier today, a Turkish drone targeted an SDF military site on Thursday in the village of Mashirfa Al-Hammah on the Hassakeh - Tal Tamr road resulting in several casualties, Al Mayadeen's correspondent to northeast Syria reported.

Later, sources to Al Mayadeen indicated that another SDF military site was targeted by a Turkish drone in the same area resulting in significant material damage to the site which served as an important SDF military facility. Furthermore, it was reported that two Turkish drones targeted SDF sites in Tel Habbash and Sdad Al-Jawadiyah in al-Hasakah.

The sources also mentioned that the SDF evacuated its positions and headquarters inside the Al-Omar oil field in the countryside of Deir Ezzor, eastern Syria.

Ankara views the so-called People's Protection Units, which dominate the SDF, as an offshoot of the banned Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which it classifies as a "terrorist group."

While Turkey carries out frequent acts of aggression on Syrian soil, the US has been for years supporting the so-called Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) militias.

The US currently has 900 troops stationed in several parts across the northern territories, including the provinces of al-Hasakah, Deir Ezzor, and Raqqa, where the largest Syrian oil and gas fields are located.

US troops claim to be occupying the area in order to rid the region of terrorists, yet the US has strategically implanted itself there for the purpose of stealing Syria's natural resources.

The Syrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates indicated that the US, along with its proxies in the form of terrorist organizations and militias, have incurred damage on Syria's oil and mineral wealth sector worth $115.2 billion. This damage has been accrued over the period from 2011 up to the first half of 2023.