Turkey’s interior minister stated that two Turkish special operations police officers were killed and two others were wounded as a result of a YPG/PKK terrorist attack in northern Syria.
The YPG/PKK terrorists attacked an armored vehicle with a guided missile in Azaz. One officer died immediately after the attack.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) identified the terrorist group responsible for the attack to be the Afrin Liberation Forces, located near Mare city in the north Aleppo countryside. The SOHR added that Turkish forces conducted artillery fire in the YPG/PKK-held village of Sheikh Issa in the northern countryside of Aleppo, as a reaction to the attack that killed the Turkish officers.
Ankara, as well as the US and the EU, considers the PKK as a terrorist organization.
Turkey launched three successful anti-terror operations across northern Syria since 2016: the first being Euphrates Shield in 2016, the second being Olive Branch in 2018, while Peace Spring 2019 is the third. During the Euphrates Shield operation, Jarablus, al-Bab, and an area of 2,055 square kilometres between the two towns were cleared from terrorist groups. In addition to ongoing operations to neutralize YPG/PKK terrorists that infiltrate the area, Turkey supports health, education and public services for the civilian population.
