Turkish soldier killed north of Aleppo, Syria
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Turkey’s Defence Ministry announced one of their soldiers was killed in an attack on their forces north of Syria’s Aleppo on Thursday.
The ministry accused Kurdish forces of the People’s Protection Units (YPG) of opening fire on their soldiers from Tall Rifat city, state-run Anadolu Agency reported.
The Turkish military responded to the attack, according to the ministry’s statement.
The YPG has not immediately commented on the incident. The force regularly carries out attacks on Syrian forces allied with Turkey in Afrin, the Kurdish enclave that the Turkish army took control of after a military offensive at the start of the year.
Media close to the Damascus regime, however, reported an altercation between the Syrian Arab Army and Turkish forces in the Tall Rifat area.
Turkish forces opened fire on Syrian posts near Tal Rifat and the Syrian army responded, reported Al-Masdar News, citing an unnamed source in Aleppo. Some Syrian soldiers were lightly wounded in the altercation. The report did not give any details of casualties among the Turkish ranks.
Turkish forces and their allied Syrian militias control areas of Syria, north of Aleppo and west of the Euphrates River. They are preparing to launch an attack on the Kurdish forces across the river.
Truckloads of tanks and howitzers were spotted being transported to the Turkey-Syria border on Wednesday, hours after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced the operation would begin in a matter of days.
Nearly 2,000 Syrian militias loyal to Turkey have been deployed from the Aleppo countryside and Afrin to the river area, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
Sources told the UK-based conflict monitor that the preparations for an offensive are complete and Syrian militias are just waiting for their orders to come from Turkey.
The operation “will extend from Euphrates until the Iraqi border,” the Observatory reported.
The United States has told their NATO ally not to attack the Kurds, who are fighting alongside American troops in the war against ISIS.
The ministry accused Kurdish forces of the People’s Protection Units (YPG) of opening fire on their soldiers from Tall Rifat city, state-run Anadolu Agency reported.
The Turkish military responded to the attack, according to the ministry’s statement.
The YPG has not immediately commented on the incident. The force regularly carries out attacks on Syrian forces allied with Turkey in Afrin, the Kurdish enclave that the Turkish army took control of after a military offensive at the start of the year.
Media close to the Damascus regime, however, reported an altercation between the Syrian Arab Army and Turkish forces in the Tall Rifat area.
Turkish forces opened fire on Syrian posts near Tal Rifat and the Syrian army responded, reported Al-Masdar News, citing an unnamed source in Aleppo. Some Syrian soldiers were lightly wounded in the altercation. The report did not give any details of casualties among the Turkish ranks.
Turkish forces and their allied Syrian militias control areas of Syria, north of Aleppo and west of the Euphrates River. They are preparing to launch an attack on the Kurdish forces across the river.
Truckloads of tanks and howitzers were spotted being transported to the Turkey-Syria border on Wednesday, hours after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced the operation would begin in a matter of days.
Nearly 2,000 Syrian militias loyal to Turkey have been deployed from the Aleppo countryside and Afrin to the river area, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
Sources told the UK-based conflict monitor that the preparations for an offensive are complete and Syrian militias are just waiting for their orders to come from Turkey.
The operation “will extend from Euphrates until the Iraqi border,” the Observatory reported.
The United States has told their NATO ally not to attack the Kurds, who are fighting alongside American troops in the war against ISIS.