Kurds Shoot down Turkish Bayraktar Drone In Syria
AshishDangwal
The Eurasian Times
The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), backed by the United States, have announced the successful downing of a Turkish Bayraktar TB2 combat drone near the Qaraqozak Bridge in northern Raqqa.
The incident, which occurred on January 1, 2025, was announced by the SDF Media Center, which published footage showing the drone being shot down.
The SDF statement read, “At exactly 1:00 p.m. today, our fighters successfully downed a Turkish Bayraktar TB2 drone in the Qaraqozak Bridge area.”F
Footage of the downing, as well as images of the wreckage, have been circulating on social media, though the exact weapon system used to bring down the drone has not been disclosed.
The Bayraktar TB2 is a popular Turkish drone used in several military campaigns including Nagorno-Karabakh and Ukraine.
Wreckage of Turkish TB-2 drone. TwitterDespite its cutting-edge tech, the SDF has demonstrated increasing proficiency in neutralizing such threats. In mid-December, the SDF released footage of another successful TB-2 drone shootdown.
According to the SDF Media Center, the latest incident marks the third Turkish drone downed by SDF forces in the past month, highlighting their continued success in countering Turkish drone operations.
The rise in drone confrontations in Syria is part of the broader geopolitical tensions involving the US, Turkey, and Kurdish forces.
In addition to the SDF’s actions, a major incident occurred in October 2023 when a US Air Force F-16 shot down a Turkish drone that came dangerously close to American forces in northeastern Syria.
The drone, believed to be targeting Kurdish YPG militants near U.S. positions, prompted a rare use of force by NATO allies against one another. At the time, the US officials stated that multiple calls were made to Ankara in an attempt to redirect the drone before the decision was made to shoot it down.
The Turkish government later denied that the drone involved was one of its own, though it did not clarify which party was responsible for its operation.
It is widely believed that the drone was of the Anka-S type, a medium-altitude, long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicle.
