FILE PHOTO: Turkish soldiers seen at the border town of Akcakale © Reuters / Murad Sezer
US troops in northern Syria “came under artillery fire from Turkish positions”, the Pentagon said on October 11.
“US troops in the vicinity of Kobani [Hint: the real name of the town is Ayn al-Arab] came under artillery fire from Turkish positions at approximately 9 p.m. local Oct. 11,” Navy Capt. Brook DeWalt, a Pentagon spokesman, said in a statement. “The explosion occurred within a few hundred meters of a location outside the Security Mechanism zone and in an area known by the Turks to have U.S. forces present.”
According to the Turkish Ddefense Ministry, its forces were firing at members of Kurdish armed groups in the area. [Ankara considers them to be terrorist groups]. The Defense Ministry said that Turkey “did not open fire at the US observation post in any way” and that “all precautions were taken prior to opening fire in order to prevent any harm to the U.S. base.”
Turkish forces, however, “ceased fire upon receiving information from the U.S.,” the ministry said. “We firmly reject the claim that U.S. or Coalition forces were fired upon.”
Some sources speculate that several coalition troops were injured in the are. However, these claims have not been confirmed by any evidence.
