One Turkish soldier was killed during a clash with the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) militia in the Tell Rifat region near Afrin in northern Syria, Turkish media reports said on Thursday.
A statement from the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) said it began heavy shelling of YPG targets following the death of the soldier.
The Turkish military and Free Syrian Army (FSA) fighters on Jan. 20 launched Operation Olive Branch in Afrin against the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD), which Turkey sees as the Syrian extension of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
More than 40 Turkish soldiers have been killed and 196 injured since the beginning of the operation.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said Turkey will not allow a Kurdish corridor in Syria extending along the Turkish border to the Mediterranean.