Turkey terminates 43 terrorists in northern Syria

Turkish security forces have neutralized 43 members of Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) in northern Syria, the Turkish defense ministry announced Thursday.

Report informs, citing foreign media, that Turkish military move came in retaliation for a bombing in the Syrian town of al-Bab that killed nine people and after the YPG opened fire on Turkish bases in al-Bab, Dadat, Kil Cibrin, and Tall Malid areas in northern Syria, the ministry said on Twitter.

The killing of a Turkish soldier by a mortar attack on Wednesday at a border post with Iraq in the southeastern city of Sirnak also prompted the retaliation, the ministry added.

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.

Turkish authorities say the operations aim to eliminate terror threats against Turkey and provide a safe zone that will facilitate the return of Syrian refugees to their homes.