Turkish forces bombarded Syrian Kurdish YPG positions in northern Syria

The shelling comes a day after an international summit on Syria hosted by Ankara
Sunday, 28 October 2018 21:46

Turkish forces bombarded Kurdish YPG militants positions on the eastern shore of the Euphrates River in northern Syria, state-run Anadolu news agency said on Sunday.

Recently, Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan vowed to expand the military operations to clear the borders from "terror."

The shelling comes a day after an international summit on Syria hosted by Ankara. Speaking at the summit, Erdoğan said Turkey has been among those most harmed by "terror organizations" in neighbouring Syria.

"We will continue eliminating threats against our national security at its root in the Euphrates' east as we have done so in its west," he said.

Kurdish militants, known as the Kurdish People's Protection Units, or the YPG, are the backbone of the U.S.-backed force. YPG is an extension of the militant Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has waged a decades-long armed conflict in Turkey.

The bombardment targeted the Zor Magar area to the west of northern Syria's Ayn al-Arab region and was aimed at preventing "terrorist activities", Anadolu reported.

The YPG took control of large areas of northeast Syria in 2012 as Syrian army pulled out to fight jihadists in the west.

Separately, Turkey's military said eight PKK militants had been killed in air strikes on northern Iraq's Hakurk and Avasin-Basyan regions on Sunday. The PKK is deemed a terrorist organisation by Turkey, the United States and Europe.