Turkey escalates Syria airstrikes after US downs its drone
Oct. 6, 2023 Updated Fri., Oct. 6, 2023 at 4:23 p.m.
Turkey intensified airstrikes on America’s Kurdish allies in Syria after the U.S. shot down a Turkish drone in the region, a rare instance of two NATO allies coming into conflict and which led the lira to weaken.
Turkish air raids targeting militants in northern Syria add to tensions between Ankara and Washington. They have been at odds over American support for armed groups that Turkey sees as terrorists.
Turkey said its warplanes struck oil wells, warehouses and headquarters operated by Kurdish YPG fighters. The attack late Thursday took place after the U.S. Defense Department said an American F-16 jet shot down a Turkish drone that flew to within half a kilometer of U.S. forces in Syria.
The unmanned aircraft was operated by Turkey’s National Intelligence Agency, which was conducting cross-border operations in retaliation for a suicide-bomb in the Turkish capital on Sunday. The attack, which injured two security officers, was claimed by Kurdish militant group PKK and organized from Syria, according to Turkish intelligence.
https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2023/oct/06/turkey-escalates-syria-airstrikes-after-us-downs-i/