ANKARA, Turkey — A Russian warplane "accidentally" hit a building on Thursday in northern Syria with Turkish soldiers inside, killing at least three troops and wounding 11, Turkey's military said. "President Putin informed the meeting participants about the recent telephone conversation with Turkish President Erdogan, said in particular that he expressed condolences to his Turkish counterpart over the fact that early this morning Turkish soldiers had been killed as a result of lack of coordination of coordinates during Russian Aerospace Forces' airstrikes on terrorists during a joint operation to liberate al-Bab," Peskov said. But Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed the Russian strike took place on Thursday morning and said that it was due to a “lack of agreement of coordinates during strikes by the Russian air force.”

Russia’s defense ministry said that Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov also called his Turkish counterpart to offer condolences over the “accidental” strike by a Russian jet. The two military chiefs “agreed on closer coordination of joint actions and also the exchange of information about the situation on the ground,” it said. Turkey and Russia recently repaired ties that were strained by Turkey’s downing of Russian jet near the border with Syria two years ago.
At least three soldiers of the Turkish Armed Forces are accidentally killed by a Russian airstrike near al-Bab in northern Syria.