Kremlin confirms accidental Russian airstrike kills Turkish soldiers in Syria
The Russian and Turkish presidents held a phone conversation earlier on Thursday. Putin expressed condolences to Erdogan over the deaths of Turkish soldiers near Syria`s al-Bab, the Kremlin said earlier. They also agreed to expand military coordination during the operation against militants from Daesh and other extremist groups in Syria.
Earlier in the day, the Turkish General Staff said that an accidental Russian airstrike killed three Turkish soldiers and wounded 11 others in northern Syria.
"Today, around 08.40, during airstrikes against IS targets [in Syria], Russian combat planes accidentally hit a building hosting Turkish servicemen taking part in Euphrates Shield operation. As a result, three Turkish soldiers were killed, 11 were wounded, including one seriously," the Turkish General Staff said in a statement.
The Russian Defense Ministry has also confirmed the unintentional strike, killing Turkish servicemen in Syria. The ministry said that Russian bombers had been on a mission to destroy Daesh terrorists` positions near al-Bab, where Turkish soldiers had been accidentally bombed.
"Russian bombers have been carrying out a combat mission destroying Daesh positions in al-Bab area. The chiefs of the [Russian and Turkish] general staffs agreed to closer coordinate joint actions and exchange information about the situation on the ground."
Chief of the Russian General Staff General Valery Gerasimov held telephone talks with his Turkish counterpart, during which the issues of the fight against international terrorist groups in Syria and the situation in the northeast of the province of Aleppo were discussed.
"Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation Army General Valery Gerasimov expressed condolences to [Turkish] General Hulusi Akar in connection with the death of three Turkish soldiers operating in the area of the city of al-Bab as a result of unintentional strike by a Russian aircraft."