Turkish troops and U.S.-backed YPG terrorists exchanged heavy shellfire on Tuesday in the northern Syrian border town of Ain al-Arab (Kobani).
In Şanlıurfa province on the Turkish side of the frontier, some 25 kilometers (16 miles) west of Ain al-Arab, a Turkish soldier was killed and four were wounded in a mortar attack on a military border post, Turkey's Defense Ministry said.
The artillery salvos in Ain al-Arab hit within the town and around its edges, starting overnight and intensifying throughout the day, according to residents and the local administration governing the town.
The administration said in an online statement that at least one child died due to the shelling and a number of other people were wounded.
Ankara regards the semi-autonomous system – which is spearheaded by YPG factions and governs swathes of northern and eastern Syria – as a national security threat on its border. The YPG is a Syrian offshoot of the PKK terrorist organization.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has pledged a new operation to create a 30-kilometer safe zone in northern Syria, swallowing up Ain al-Arab and other towns held by the U.S.-backed YPG forces.
Following the mortar attack in the Şanlıurfa region, Turkish forces conducted retaliatory fire against targets in the region, Ankara's Defense Ministry said in a statement.
"According to initial information in the region, 13 terrorists were neutralized. Operations in the region are continuing," it said.
A Turkish official said the YPG militia had carried out the mortar attack. Ankara considers the YPG a terrorist group.
The YPG terror group in northern Syria also fired mortar shells at Turkish territory on Tuesday, according to security forces.
The YPG terrorist organization fired four mortar shells from areas under its occupation east of the Euphrates River into the southeastern province of Gaziantep across the border.
The shells hit an uninhabited area of the Karkamış district near the border.
Security forces have since launched an investigation and cordoned off the scene, with municipal officials cautioning residents to stay away from the area.
On Twitter, Gaziantep Governor Davut Gül said no one had been hurt by the attack.
