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2 Turkish soldiers killed in clashes with YPG in Syria

11 October 2019 20:36 (UTC +04:00)

Two Turkish soldiers were killed in action on Thursday and Friday amid Turkey's Operation Peace Spring in northern Syria.

Two fallen soldiers, a specialized sergeant and an infantry private, died amid clashes with the People's Protection Units (YPG) terrorist group, the National Defense Ministry announced Friday.

Another soldier, a communications private, died during training exercises on Thursday, the ministry said.

The ministry later said another two soldiers, a specialized sergeant and infantry specialized corporal, were killed in a mortar attack by YPG terrorists near Syria's Afrin, the region where Turkey conducted Operation Olive Branch.

The Defense Ministry expressed condolences to the families of the fallen soldiers and the Turkish nation.

Turkey launched Operation Peace Spring, the third in a series of cross-border anti-terror operations in northern Syria targeting terrorists affiliated with Daesh and the PKK's Syrian offshoot the People's Protection Units (YPG), on Wednesday afternoon.

The operation, conducted in line with the country's right to self-defense borne out of international law and U.N. Security Council resolutions, aims to establish a terror-free safe zone for Syrians return in the area east of the Euphrates River controlled by the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which is dominated by YPG terrorists.