"At approximately 11:30 local time, a Turkish UAV reentered the ROZ on a heading toward where U.S. forces were located," Ryder said. "U.S. commanders assessed that the UAV, which was now less than a half a kilometer from U.S. forces, to be a potential threat, and U.S. F-16 fighters subsequently shot down the UAV in self-defense at approximately 11:40 local time."
No U.S. forces were injured, Ryder said, also adding there is no indication that Turkey had intentionally been targeting U.S. forces.
U.S. F-16 Shoots Down Turkish Drone Over Syria (Updated)
The incident comes as Turkey has stepped up its drone campaign against Kurdish targets following a bombing in Ankara on Sunday.
The U.S. has about 900 troops in that area, continuing the ongoing fight against the ISIS jihadi group. Forces assigned to U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) continue to partner with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in that fight, which were instrumental in the ultimate defeat of ISIS physical caliphate in 2019. Last month, there were eight partnered operations in Syria, with one ISIS operative killed and seven detained, according to CENTCOM.
The U.S.-SDF relationship has long created tensions with NATO ally Turkey, which considers the SDF an extension of the PKK.
Turkish officials on Wednesday claimed the two attackers who bombed Ankara had come from Syria. The bombing killed both attackers and wounded two police officers. The SDF denied the bombers passed through their territory.
"The PKK and the YPG are the same terrorist organisation, they are our legitimate target everywhere. Turkey conducted operations whenever and wherever necessary in the past, and these operations will continue if needed again," a Turkish Defence Ministry official said.
Turkey has a history of drone strikes against Kurdish targets throughout Syria, including one that the U.K.-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said killed 20 in an attack on SDF leadership near Zahraa on Aug. 19.
However, the tempo has greatly increased in northeastern Syria since the Ankara attack, according to groups on the ground there.
SOHR said that there were 17 Turkish drone attacks in that area just today, resulting in at least 10 deaths.
How Turkey will ultimately react to what the U.S. says was a deliberate shootdown of one of its drones remains unknown at the time. Also unknown is what, if any effect, the current Turkish operations against the SDF will have on that organization's relationship with the U.S.
This is a developing story. We will update it when new information becomes available.
Update 2:11 PM Eastern:
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