US Pentagon spokesperson Pat Ryder has announced that the United States has downed a Turkish drone in Syria, believing it posed a threat.
Ryder stated in a press conference that the Turkish drone was detected as it approached American forces in Syria.
He added that the command considered the approaching drone as a threat, and it was shot down by F-16 aircraft.
He stressed that there is no indication that Turkish forces intended to target American forces.
Ryder pointed out that the US Secretary of Defence, Lloyd Austin, discussed the situation in a phone call with his Turkish counterpart, Hulusi Akar, who confirmed their commitment to close coordination.
He also noted that Turkey is one of the United States’ key allies in the NATO alliance and described the incident as “regrettable.”
An American official had earlier informed the Associated Press that the US military downed a Turkish drone on Thursday after it approached American forces in Hasakah, northeastern Syria.
This incident follows intense Turkish airstrikes on Wednesday against targets in Iraq and Syria, targeting Kurdish militants in response to a suicide attack on the Turkish Interior Ministry in the capital, Ankara, on Sunday.
