Turkey ended up shelling a small contingent of US Forces that were in the Kurdish city of Kobani, apparently by mistake, according to a new report by Newsweek:
A contingent of U.S. Special Forces has been caught up in Turkish shelling against U.S.-backed Kurdish positions in northern Syria, days after President Donald Trump told his Turkish counterpart he would withdraw U.S. troops from certain positions in the area.
Newsweek has learned through both an Iraqi Kurdish intelligence official and senior Pentagon official that Special Forces operating on Mashtenour hill in the majority-Kurdish city of Kobani fell under artillery fire from Turkish forces conducting their so-called “Operation Peace Spring” against Kurdish fighters backed by the U.S. but considered terrorist organizations by Turkey.
The senior Pentagon official said that Turkish forces should be aware of U.S. positions “down to the grid.” The official could not specify the exact number of personnel present, but indicated they were “small numbers below company level,” so somewhere between 15 and 100 troops.
Newsweek has reached out to the Pentagon for comment on the situation.
Defense Secretary Esper said today that the US is coordinating with the Turks regarding our presence in Syria and they know down to the “grid-coordinate detail” the location of our troops.
I looked up the state of Kobani and it’s definitely in the north of Syria, so I’m a little puzzled why we still have troops on the ground there. I thought we pulled all of them out?
The other question I have is whether this was an accident or a warning by Turkey that our troops might get killed if they remain in northern Syria. I wouldn’t put it past the Turks to send messages like this…