News   /   Russia

Turkey gave coordinates for al-Bab airstrikes: Kremlin

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov (Photo by AP)

Moscow says the Russian air force conducted recent airstrikes that accidentally killed three Turkish soldiers in Syria based on coordinates provided by Turkey.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists in the Russian capital on Friday that the "causes of the incident are clear."

"There is no debate," he said, adding, "The situation is obvious, unfortunately. Our military while launching strikes on terrorists followed coordinates that were given to us by our Turkish partners."

"There should not have been Turkish soldiers within the limits of these coordinates. That's why these strikes took place," the Russian official stated.

Ankara said after the remarks by the Kremlin spokesman that the Turkish military had given the coordinates of the building in Syria where the soldiers were accidentally killed to its Russian counterparts a day before the incident.

Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim confirmed that the soldiers' death was an "accident."

On Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin called his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, to discuss the incident in the Syrian town of al-Bab, where the two countries are conducting military operations.

Read more:

Smoke rises from the northern Syrian town of al-Bab, February 1, 2017. (Photo by AFP)

On Thursday, a Russian warplane, which was targeting Daesh positions in al-Bab, "accidentally hit a building used by Turkish Army units," which led to the death of the three soldiers and injured 11 others, the Turkish army said in a statement.


Press TV’s website can also be accessed at the following alternate addresses:

www.presstv.ir

SHARE THIS ARTICLE
Press TV News Roku