30 August, 2017
U.S. troops fighting in the coalition against ISIS came under direct attack near Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army soldiers in Northern Syria.
Turkish-backed fighters have been in Syria since the start of Operation Euphrates Shield in August past year. "We are engaged with Ankara and other parties to address this danger", Pentagon spokesman Eric Pahon told CNN.
He added that the coalition has asked Turkey to tell the rebels it supports in the area that firing on US-led coalition forces "is not acceptable". However it seems that the Turkish-allied forces likely knew they were exchanging fire with USA soldiers.
The US filed a diplomatic protest with the Turkish government, according to the media report.
The incident occurred around the same time US Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis visited Turkey to meet with his Turkish counterpart and the country's President Recep Erdogan.
"Our forces did receive fire and return fire and then moved to a secure location", US Army Col. Ryan Dillon told Reuters. Following those attacks, Dillon said USA and coalition troops "reserve the right to defend ourselves". Turkey has criticized USA support for Kurdish militias such as the People's Protection Units (YPG), because it considers them connected to an insurgent Kurdish nationalist movement at home. While Pentagon spokesman US Navy Capt. Jeff Davis declined to call the troops "peacekeepers" upon their initial deployment in March, he referred to them as "a visible reminder for anybody looking to start a fight".
"Our overt patrols that have been conducting patrols in that area to keep tensions down received fire multiple times over the course of the last two weeks", Dillon said.
They are also training the Manbij Military Council, a group of local Arab fighters allied to the SDF.
The Free Syrian Army was also the primary recipient of Central Intelligence Agency funding to overthrow Assad, but this support diminished as ISIS and Al-Qaeda became increasingly influential among rebels.
"We're there to monitor and to deter hostilities and make sure everyone remains focused on ISIS", said Pahon.
