US Says Turkey Conducted ‘Unsafe’ Air Strikes in Syria, Killing US Partners

With less than an hour’s notice to the U.S.-led coalition, Turkey, a U.S. NATO ally, conducted airstrikes in northern Syria on Monday night, killing “a significant number” of Kurdish YPG fighters, who have been “very important to the fight against ISIS,” Air Force Col. John Dorrian, the spokesperson for Operation Inherent Resolve, told reporters at the Pentagon on Wednesday.

Then on Tuesday, the Turkish Air Force conducted air strikes near Sinjar, Iraq “without proper coordination with the coalition or the government of Iraq,” Dorrian said. Five Kurdish Peshmerga fighters were killed there.

“We’re troubled by that,” Dorrian said. “We call on all forces to remain focused on the fight to defeat ISIS.”

 

Read More: US Says Turkey Conducted ‘Unsafe’ Air Strikes in Syria, Killing US Partners