Turkey’s military said its jets shot down an unidentified drone in Turkish air space near Syria on Friday. Broadcaster NTV said it had come 3 km (2 miles) into Turkish air space.
Advertisement
Turkey earlier this month had complained about Russian warplanes violating its airspace, intrusions that also drew strong condemnation from Turkey’s North Atlantic Treaty Organisation allies.
For its part, the BBC said that drones are also used in this area by troops of the U.S.-led coalition, Syria and Russian Federation.
The drone was given three warnings by the Turkish military, but there was no response, Turkish officials said.
A US official said the downed drone was Russian, but Moscow staunchly rejected the claim.
“All technical matters have already been agreed upon, with Russian and USA lawyers now cross checking the text of the document”, said Colonel-General Andrei Kartapolov, according to the Interfax news agency.
Turkey shot down a drone on Friday in an incident highlighting the dangers of multiple air combat operations over Syria, where government troops and their allies backed by Russian jets have launched an offensive against rebels near Aleppo. The incidents occurred after it changed its rules of engagement following the downing of a Turkish fighter jet by Syria. It crashed inside Turkey’s borders.
Seeking to soothe Turkey’s anger over violation of its airspace by Russian aircraft, Moscow sent a high-level military delegation to discuss preventing such incidents.
Russia’s Sukhoi Su-25, Su-24M and Su-34 attack aircraft, with the support of Su-30 jets, launched precision airstrikes against the IS targets in Syria on September 30, following a request from Syrian President Bashar Assad. They have so far met stiff resistance from rebels using U.S.-made TOW anti-tank missiles that have impeded any swift breakthroughs, although they have seized a few villages from rebels in the past week.
The ministry also said it had agreed the technical details for an agreement with the United States on flight safety over Syria and a final memorandum would be signed soon. “The main core is the Syrian army”, the source said.
Activists in central Syria posted online videos showing what they said were heavy air raids on areas in northern Homs.
Advertisement
In response to the Army offensive and Russian air strikes, al-Nusra Front militants opened fired and killed an undetermined number of civilians who were in the surroundings of the mosque in Teir Maalah town, in Homs province, before escaping from the anti terrorist offensives against these movements.
