Turkey claims to have ‘neutralised’ 58 Kurdish militants in northern Syria

Turkey said that its forces have “neutralised” 58 Kurdish militants in northern Syria after overnight attacks on militant targets amid a new wave of airstrikes, in retaliation for a suicide bombing attack in Ankara. This also comes days after Turkey called all targets belonging to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) as “legitimate targets” for its forces.

Turkish airstrikes in Syria

The conflict in the region escalated nearly a week after the Kurdish militants claimed responsibility for a bomb attack near the Turkish parliament, which wounded two police officers and killed the two attackers.

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Turkey has previously said that the attackers arrived from Syria but the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) denied this. However, this has not stopped Ankara from launching a barrage of air strikes and attacks in northern Syria and Iraq.

“Targets belonging to PKK/YPG terrorists in northern Syria’s Euphrates Shield, Olive Branch, and Peace Spring operation areas were hit strongly all night long,” said the Turkish defence ministry, on Saturday.

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The ministry also said that these operations, which have “neutralised” – a term Ankara typically uses to mean killed – 58 militants in the region, are being carried out under self-defence rights.

The announcement comes after the Turkish defence ministry said it had hit 15 Kurdish targets in northern Syria on Friday evening with “with the maximum amount” of ammunition.

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Notably, Turkey views the People’s Protection Units (YPG) as a terrorist organisation and says that it is indistinguishable from the PKK. “The PKK and the YPG are the same terrorist organisation, they are our legitimate target everywhere,” said the defence ministry official, on Thursday (Oct 5).

While the United States and European Union deem the PKK a terrorist organisation, not the YPG. In fact, the YPG is said to be the spearhead of the main ally of the US-led coalition against the Islamic state, which has soured Washington’s relations with Ankara as well as Paris.

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On Thursday, the US also shot down an armed Turkish drone that was operating near its troops in Syria. This is said to be the first time that Washington has brought down an aircraft of its NATO ally Ankara.

Both countries have reportedly held a series of calls since the incident where Turkey said that while non-conflict mechanisms with the parties on the ground would be improved, they will continue to hit militants in Syria and Iraq.

(With inputs from agencies)

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