When US troops at an observation post near Kobani in Syria almost came under shelling from Turkish positions, they made multiple requests to their commanders for permission to return fire or at least to evacuate, Newsweek reported, citing an anonymous senior Pentagon official.
They were not given permission to return fire, but while the US was trying to reach Turkish forces, the US Air Force directed their laser designators at the Turkish positions, openly letting them know that they were in the crosshairs and could be attacked any minute if necessary, the source told the media outlet. The shelling reportedly stopped soon afterwards.
The exchange reportedly didn't pass by the Turkish command unnoticed, which is now allegedly exercising greater caution in its operations.
"The Turks are really afraid now, since [the] incident, where they were planning to scare off the Coalition Forces back so they can have an all-out Turkish invasion on Kobane. But fortunately the Turks quickly learned who the US Military are. Since [then] the Turkish military are approaching the American Coalition with great caution", an anonymous Kurdish intelligence official told Newsweek.
Turkey denies shelling US troops near the Kobani observation post intentionally, but the Pentagon insists that the country's armed forces were fully aware of the exact coordinates where the American soldiers were located that day. An anonymous US official later told The Washington Post that Ankara had known of the post for months, claiming that they fired shells in the vicinity of American troops intentionally.
After the incident, the Pentagon demanded that Ankara avoid actions that "could result in immediate defensive action" in the future. The Turkish Defence Ministry, in turn, said that it had taken the necessary measures to avoid attacking a US observation post near the positions of Kurdish-led forces.