Turkish forces and the Syrian Task Force (STF) confiscated weapons and rockets belonging to the PKK terrorist organization and its Syrian offshoot the YPG, to be used against civilians in attacks in northern Syria, the Interior Ministry said Sunday.
Under the coordination of the Turkish Police and Counterterrorism Unit, the Syrian Task Force carried out an operation against the terrorists, who were planning to transport two American-made TOW missiles and 24 Kalashnikov rifles to Manbij.
The rockets in particular are used to destroy tanks.
The security forces also confiscated a designated marksman rifle, two gun tubes and more.
Terrorists detained as part of the operation confessed that they had been attempting to transfer the weapons to the YPG/PKK in Manbij, the ministry said.
Meanwhile, two YPG/PKK terrorists who opened harassing fire on Turkish troops were neutralized the Defense Ministry said Monday.
The attack took place in the Operation Euphrates Shield area in Syria, the ministry noted.
Since the beginning of Turkey’s counterterrorism operations to clear YPG/PKK and Daesh terrorists from northwestern Syria’s Afrin, terrorists have indiscriminately targeted the border provinces of Kilis and Hatay’s Reyhanlı district with rockets, killing and injuring civilians.
Azaz was liberated from Daesh terrorists by the Turkish military and aligned Syrian opposition forces in the 2016 Operation Euphrates Shield. Since then, the town has become an area with a high concentration of refugees and the main hub of Turkish relief efforts.
In the last three years, Turkey’s Euphrates Shield, Olive Branch and Peace Spring operations liberated the northern Syrian region from the YPG/PKK and Daesh terrorists, allowing hundreds of thousands of displaced civilians to return to their homes.
However, the YPG/PKK terrorist group often mounts attacks on Jarablus, Afrin and Azaz from Syria’s Manbij and Tal Rifaat areas, which remain under its occupation.
Local people living in areas held by the YPG/PKK have long suffered from its atrocities, as the terrorist organization has a notorious record of human rights abuses, ranging from kidnappings, recruitment of child soldiers, torture, ethnic cleansing and forced displacement, in Syria.