A U.S. Air Force MQ-9 Reaper was mistakenly shot down in northern Syria on Dec. 9 by the U.S.-allied Syrian Democratic Forces, U.S. officials told Air & Space Forces Magazine.
The Kurdish-led SDF is the United States’ principal partner in the fight against the Islamic State group in Syria, and the downing of the American MQ-9 appears to have been a case of mistaken identity. The group has been battling the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army for control in northern Syria, where Turkish drones have been operating against the SDF.
“The incident was a result of friendly fire from partner forces conducting operations in the region who misidentified the unmanned aircraft as a threat,”
a U.S. defense official told Air & Space Forces Magazine. The drone was operating on a mission as part of Operation Inherent Resolve, the campaign against the Islamic State group, the defense official said.
The downing of the U.S. MQ-9 was first reported by CNN. Apparently it was accidentally shot down by the SDF, Kurdish partner forces who thought the drone was Turkish, the officials said, and shot it down because they believed it posed a threat. Turkish-backed militants have been clashing with the US-backed SDF forces in northern Syria in recent days, in areas that have been under Kurdish control for much of the last decade.
Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh confirmed the downing of the drone, but did not say who was responsible for the incident.
“There’s been no change to our partnership with the SDF when it comes to ensuring the defeat of ISIS,” Singh said Dec. 11.
Images that appeared on social media on Dec. 9 show what appeared to be the largely intact wreckage of an MQ-9 in northern Syria. It was later intentionally destroyed, according to the defense official.
“U.S. forces have recovered appropriate aircraft components and destroyed the remaining portions of the aircraft,” the official said. “U.S. Air Forces Central is actively assessing the actions that led to the incident and will adjust tactics, techniques, and procedures to safeguard U.S., coalition, and partner forces and their associated assets.”
The fighting in Syria is complex, with many different parties. The U.S. and Turkey are NATO allies, but Turkey has long regarded the SDF as an adversary, even as the U.S. and SDF have worked together. In October 2023, a U.S. F-16 downed a Turkish drone when it tried to target SDF forces near U.S. troops. The U.S. has urged Turkey and the militias it supports to avoid conflict with the SDF in recent days in the wake of the collapse of the Assad regime in Syria on Dec. 8.
The SDF and Turkish-backed rebels agreed to a U.S.-mediated ceasefire on Dec. 9 in Manbij, which called for the SDF to pull out of the northern border city, where there had been heavy fighting. The SDF is trying to stop the Turkish-backed rebels from advancing further and aims to prevent the capture of the primarily Kurdish city of Kobane.
Some background: The SDF is largely made up of Kurdish fighters from a group known as the Peoples’ Protection Units (YPG), which is considered a terrorist organization by neighboring Turkey.
The MQ9 is remotely piloted by the US Air Force and is capable of conducting surveillance and carrying out offensive strikes. It is not clear what the drone’s mission was at the time it was shot down, but the US has continued conducting anti-ISIS operations in Syria even amid the fall of the country’s former president Bashar al-Assad.
Around 900 US military personnel remain in Syria as part of an anti-ISIS coalition that includes the SDF, and defense officials have said the US intends to maintain its presence in the country to prevent the terror group from reconstituting.
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin told reporters in Japan on Wednesday that the US will continue to work with the SDF going forward.
“We have a good relationship with them and I think it will remain that way,” Austin said.
Source: Air & Space Forces Magazine