Turkey Says It Killed 15 Kurdish Militants ‘Preparing Attack’ in Syria

Turkey’s Defense Ministry issued a statement reporting that they have killed 15 Kurdish YPG members, declaring this to be a “heavy blow” against Kurdish terrorists in general.

The YPG fighters were claimed to be trying to infiltrate a Turkish-controlled region in NE Syria when the Turkish commandos intervened against them. The statement was vague about exactly where this fighting took place.

Turkey views the Syrian YPG as a part of the Turkish PKK, a banned group that they consider terrorist organization. Turkey’s invasion of northern Syria is in no small measure about forcing the Kurds away from the border.

Turkey controls some areas of Syria that, at the start of the civil war were Kurdish. They have threatened to invade further east, deeper into Kurdish territory, but so far have not done so.