Türkiye’s military eliminated nearly a dozen members of the YPG, the U.S.-backed offshoot of the PKK terrorist group, in northern Syria, according to the Defense Ministry on Monday.
Eleven PKK/YPG terrorists who were preparing to attack in the Olive Branch and Euphrates Shield regions in northern Syria were eliminated, the ministry reported on X.
"We continue to respond with equal force to the terrorists' attack attempts," it added.
Türkiye has ramped up airstrikes and counterterrorism operations in the north of Syria, as well as in Iraq where the PKK/YPG terrorists have been particularly aggressive in recent months.
The PKK – listed as a terrorist organization by Türkiye, the United States, Britain and the European Union – is responsible for over 40,000 civilian and security personnel deaths in Türkiye during an almost four-decadelong campaign of terrorism.
Since Turkish operations have driven its domestic presence to near extinction, the PKK has moved a large chunk of its operations to northern Iraq where the group operates a stronghold in the Qandil Mountains, located roughly 40 kilometers (25 miles) southeast of the Turkish border in Irbil province.
Ankara maintains dozens of military bases there, and it regularly launches operations against the PKK but in recent years, it has battled the YPG in northern Syria where the group has occupied several resource-rich provinces since 2015 after taking advantage of a power vacuum created by the civil war.
Since 2016, Ankara has launched a trio of successful counterterrorism operations across its border in northern Syria to prevent the formation of a terror corridor and enable the peaceful settlement of residents: Euphrates Shield (2016), Olive Branch (2018) and Peace Spring (2019).
The terrorists control areas near the Syrian-Iraqi border and unconfirmed reports say they travel between the two countries secretly.
The YPG has grown stronger in the region, particularly in Deir el-Zour province, home to Syria’s largest oil wells, thanks to material support from the United States.
The issue strains Turkish-U.S. ties as Ankara warns its NATO ally against aiding terror elements that threaten its national security, something Washington continues to do despite promising to remove the group from the Turkish border area.
Since Jan. 1, 2023, the terrorist group has carried out 560 attacks falling under Türkiye's counterterrorism operations in Syria and 1,605 terrorists have been neutralized, the Defense Ministry said last month.
Late January, a U.S.-based journal claimed, citing four sources within the Defense and State departments, that the White House could fully withdraw from Syria, which could ease some of the strain between Washington and Ankara.
