ANKARA (Dispatches) – At least four YPG/PKK militants were ‘neutralized’ by Turkish forces in northern Syria, Turkey’s National Defense Ministry said on Tuesday.
Turkish commandos ‘neutralized’ the militants in the Operation Peace Spring zone, the ministry said on Twitter. Turkish authorities use the term “neutralize” to imply that the militants surrendered or were killed or captured.
Seven YPG/PKK militants were also killed in northern Syria on Monday, the ministry added.
Turkey launched its operation across its border with Syria in 2016. Turkey has also been militarily engaged in northern Iraq with the purported aim of fighting the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) militant group, which it has designated as a terrorist outlet, along with the United States and the European Union.
The Baghdad government has condemned Ankara’s ongoing military operations in northern Iraq, warning of the Turkish government’s expansionist agenda and its ambitions to seize control of and annex the strategic northwestern city of Mosul.