U.S. Troops Come Under Fire from Turkish Military Positions

Published by Matt Fishman on

Last night, U.S. troops in Syria “came under artillery fire from Turkish positions”. The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) reports the explosion was “in an area known by the Turks to have U.S. forces present.” The Turkish Ministry of Defence responded they “firmly reject the claim that U.S. or Coalition forces were fired upon.” Rather, the Turkish Military “came under Dochka and mortar fire from [terrorists, and in] self-defense, reciprocal fire was opened on the terrorist positions of the attack.” Turkey also stated all “precautions were taken prior to opening fire in order to prevent any harm to the U.S. base.” The DoD reports “All U.S. troops are accounted for with no injuries.”

Earlier this week, the U.S. announced it’s “intent to pull troops out of Northern Syria” in response to Turkey’s moving forward with a military operation into the area. U.S. Secretary of Defense Mark Esper said the “decision was made to ensure American troops were not caught up in the fighting between Turkish and Kurdish forces.” The Defense Secretary says President Trump, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, himself, and others have spoken with Turkey President Erdogan and members of the Turkish Government, and “urged them to stop this incursion” against the Kurds. President Trump tweeted three options for the United State’s response: “Send in thousands of troops and win Militarily, hit Turkey very hard Financially and with Sanctions, or mediate a deal between Turkey and the Kurds”.


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