2023 Turkish drone shootdown

On 5 October 2023, at approximately 11:30 AM local time, a Turkish combat drone was shot down by a United States Air Force F-16 near US forces in the Al-Hasakah region of Syria.

Background

Turkey has frequently criticized the United States for providing aid to the Kurdish YPG in Syria, which Turkey views as a terrorist organization allied with the outlawed PKK. Following the 2023 Ankara bombing, Turkey began to launch airstrikes on targets in the SDF-controlled zones of Syria. Turkey has stated that a ground operation in Kurdish-controlled zones of Syria is an option that it could consider in retaliation for the 2023 Ankara bombing.

Events

According to US officials cited by Politico, a Turkish Bayraktar TB2 drone was being used in Syria near the position of US troops. The United States attempted to contact Turkey a dozen times to warn them, but to no avail. They then resolved to shoot down the drone using an F-16. The US claimed that the drone had been flying in an "unsynchronized" and "unsafe" way. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and local sources confirmed that a Turkish drone was shot down by US forces.

In the vicinity of Al-Hasakah, Syria, several Turkish strikes occurred at 7:30 AM local time, with some of them inside a US-declared restricted operating zone. The drones were situated approximately one kilometer away from US forces, prompting them to relocate to bunkers. Later, at 11:30 AM local time, a Turkish drone initially identified as a Bayraktar TB2 breached the restricted operating zone once again. U.S. commanders evaluated the drone as a "possible threat," resulting in the F-16 shooting it down. The drone model of the combat drone was identified as a TAI Anka-S drone afterwards in more precise reports.