Turkey’s National Defense Ministry said on Thursday that the Turkish armed forces, during retaliatory fire in self-defense, neutralized 21 YPG/PKK terrorists in northern Syria.
A statement read that at least 21 terrorists were neutralized in retaliatory strikes in “self-defense” on the YPG/PKK terror group’s positions in the Ayn al-Arab district of northern Syria, after attacks by YPG/PKK terrorists on Karkamis district and the Koprubati Border Post in Turkey’s southeastern Gaziantep province.
The statement added that the army continues targeting the YPG/PKK terrorist organization.
One Turkish soldier was killed in the YPG/PKK terror group’s mortar attacks targeting Karkamis and the Koprubati Border Post, the ministry also stated.
The ministry said earlier that four Turkish soldiers and one civilian were injured in the terror group’s attacks from northern Syria’s Ayn al-Arab.
Ankara has launched a trio of successful anti-terror operations across its border in northern Syria to prevent the formation of a terror corridor and enable the peaceful settlement of residents since 2016. The operations are Euphrates Shield (2016), Olive Branch (2018), and Peace Spring (2019), respectively.
The PKK, which is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the US, and the EU, has been responsible for the deaths of over 40,000 people, including women, children, and infants, in its more than 35-year terror campaign against the country. The YPG is the PKK’s Syrian offshoot.
