Turkish forces attacking targets in Syria appear to have fired on U.S. forces still in the country “by mistake.” Newsweek is reporting that a small number of troops, somewhere between 15 and 100 in number, came under artillery fire from advancing Turkish forces near the Kurdish city of Kobani. This appears to have happened even though Turkish officials were informed of the exact location of remaining U.S. troops as they are being withdrawn from Kurdish areas.
On Thursday, Donald Trump twice claimed that there were no U.S. forces remaining in Syria. Trump first made the claim to reporters on the White House lawn, then repeated it to his Minnesota rally crowd while declaring that the U.S. had “won” against ISIS and “left.” Perhaps the Turkish military took Trump’s words seriously, but the Pentagon indicates there are still 1,000 U.S. troops present in Syria.
No information is yet available concerning any resulting casualties.