One Turkish soldier was killed and three others were wounded in an attack by Syrian Kurdish militants in a Turkish-controlled region in northern Syria, according to Turkish officials.
Turkey’s Defense Ministry said the attack by the Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units [YPG] occurred in the so-called “Euphrates Shield region,” which Turkey and Turkish-allied Syrian opposition forces cleared of Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militants in a cross-border operation in 2016.
The ministry did not provide further details but said Turkey’s military responded to the attack by striking YPG targets in the area. Pro-Kurdish media said Turkish troops retaliated by shelling. It was not immediately known if the retaliatory strikes resulted in casualties.
Turkey considers the YPG to be an extension of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the EU and the US.