Turkey moved ahead with its military operation against Kurdish fighters in northeast Syria leaving killed 14 militants.

The Turkish defense ministry said in a post on Twitter “As part of the successful operations being conducted in the framework of Operation Peace Spring, the town of Rasulayn, located east of the Euphrates, has been brought under control.”

Turkey’s defence ministry has also confirmed the first death among Turkey’s soldiers, while heavy clashes are underway between Turkish forces and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in the Syrian border towns.

United Nations said that the military operation has forced 130,000 people to flee their homes.

Turk President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that the objective of military operation is to remove the Kurdish-led forces from the border area and create a “safe zone” so millions of Syrian refugees can be returned safely.

The Turkey’s military operation came after the US President Trump’s announcement that America was withdrawing its troops from the region, leaving the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), its main ally in the battle against the Islamic State (ISIS) of Iraq and the Levant armed militant group, without US military support.

American President Donald Trump said that he is an “island of one” for removing US forces from northeastern Syria.

He further said that Middle East as a hopeless cause, despite years of American military involvement and financial investment and the America cannot fight “endless wars,” he added.

Meanwhile, United States Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said that US President Trump was planning to activate “very powerful” sanctions on Turkey.