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40 civilians, including 11 children, killed in YPG/PKK attack in Afrin, Syria

28 April 2020 20:41 (UTC +04:00)

At least 40 civilians, including 11 children, were killed on Tuesday in a YPG/PKK terrorist attack in northwestern Syria, Turkey's Defense Ministry said, APA reports quoting Anadolu Agency.

At least 47 others were also wounded in the attack in the Afrin city center carried out using a bomb-rigged fuel tanker, the ministry said in a tweet.

Many buildings were damaged on Raju Street where the fuel tanker exploded, and medical personnel took the wounded to hospitals in the center of Afrin.

In January 2018, Turkey launched a major military operation – Operation Olive Branch – to rid Afrin of YPG/PKK terrorist elements, and liberated the city and province that March.

Since 2016, Turkey has launched a trio of successful anti-terrorist operations across its border in northern Syria to prevent the formation of a terror corridor and enable peaceful settlement of locals: Euphrates Shield (2016), Olive Branch (2018) and Peace Spring (2019).

In its more than 30-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK – listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the US and EU – has been responsible for the deaths of 40,000 people, including women, children, and infants. The YPG is the PKK’s Syrian offshoot.