 U.S. shot down NATO Allies drone. Pentagon, an American fighter jet, shot down a Turkish strike drone. Over northern Syria, the Pentagon has officially confirmed. The ANKAR-S UAV was said to have approached the area in Hasaka Province where U.S. forces were operating. The drone was deemed a potential threat and was brought down by fire from an F-16 fighter, AFP reported, quoting the U.S. Department of Defense. The confirmation came after the unnamed U.S. official told the Wall Street Journal that the Turkish drone had been armed with air-to-ground missiles and was destroyed, as American troops were conducting operations nearby. Unconfirmed reports spoke of an F-35 from the 421st Fighter Squadron being responsible for the kill. The 421st operates both F-35s and F-16s, however. The Turkish Defense Ministry denied that the drone was one of theirs, but officials who spoke with the Wall Street Journal said the U.S. military had confirmed the UAV's provenance and acted in full awareness of it. This incident is the first time the U.S. has shot down an aircraft belonging to Turkey, a member of NATO and a military ally of Washington. Turkish drones had been bombing the positions of Syrian Democratic forces, the U.S.-backed group controlling northeastern Syria, in reprisal for Sunday's terrorist bombing in Ankara, claimed by Kurdish militants. Turkey considers the Kurdistan Workers' Party militia in Syria the extension of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, which it had designated a terrorist group. Kurdistan Workers' Party fighters make up the majority of Syrian Democratic forces and have recently clashed with their Arab colleagues in the Deir ez-Zor province. An estimated 900 U.S. troops are currently in Syria helping the Syrian Democratic forces control agricultural land and oil wells in territories captured from Islamic State terrorists years ago. The government in Damascus has denounced their presence as illegal and accused Washington of stealing Syrian oil, to which the U.S. has not responded.