Turkey says kills 7 YPG Kurdish militants in northern Syria

ANKARA – Turkey’s security forces killed seven members of Syria’s Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) after they attempted to infiltrate into Turkish military zone in northern Syria, the country’s defense ministry said Wednesday.

The seven YPG militants “opened harassment fire against the region and attempted to infiltrate, (and) were neutralized by our fire-support vehicles,” the ministry tweeted. Turkish authorities often use the term “neutralized” to imply enemies killed, wounded, or captured in security operations.

Three Turkish soldiers were killed on Jan. 8 by an improvised explosive device planted on the borderline in Akcakale district of the southeastern Sanliurfa city on Turkey’s border with Syria, according to the Turkish defense ministry.

Turkey’s security forces killed at least 12 Kurdish fighters soon after the incident. “Our punitive operations continue,” Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said on Jan. 9.

The Turkish army launched Operation Euphrates Shield in 2016, Operation Olive Branch in 2018, Operation Peace Spring in 2019 and Operation Spring Shield in 2020 in northern Syria, in order to eliminate the YPG group along its border with the neighboring country. Turkey sees the YPG as the Syrian branch of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). Turkish forces and the YPG members in the region often exchange fire on the Syrian border.

The PKK, listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the EU, has been rebelling against the Turkish government for more than three decades, which has claimed more than 40,000 lives.

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