A Turkish police officer was killed and three others were injured after the Syrian branch of the PKK terror group carried out an attack in Jarablus in northern Syria, the Interior Ministry said on Sunday.
YPG / PKK terrorists attacked an armored vehicle with a guided missile in the Operation Euphrates Shield area, the ministry said.
He added that one of the injured police officers was in serious condition.
Turkey has carried out operations against terrorist groups in northern Iraq and Syria, in particular the YPG / PKK.
Based on Article 51 of the United Nations Charter, Turkey launched Operation Euphrates Shield on August 24, 2016, using its right of self-defense to eradicate terrorist elements that threatened its national security, mainly Daesh, and ensure border security in northern Syria.
On the first day of the operation, the Syrian town of Jarablus, which borders the Karkamış district of Gaziantep province in southeastern Turkey, was freed from terrorist elements. On February 23, 2017, the northwestern city of al-Bab was freed from Daesh terrorists.
During the operation, an area of ​​2,055 square kilometers (793 square miles) between the two cities was also cleared of terrorist groups within 217 days. Turkish soldiers and the Syrian National Army (ANS) have eliminated more than 3,000 Daesh terrorists in nearly seven months.
On March 29, 2017, then Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım announced that the operation had been completed. At the end of the operation, Turkey focused on ensuring security and stability in the region in order to create the conditions necessary for the return of civilians displaced by terrorism.
To this end, security forces and officials trained in Turkey have started operating in the region. Thanks to Turkey’s initiatives and support in the fields of health, education and public services, the population of the region has reached almost 2 million.
Turkish-controlled districts of northern Syria are regularly targeted by the YPG, who seized large swathes of land in the war-torn north of the country with the blessing of the Assad regime when clashes escalated in 2012.
Ankara considers the YPG, which was supported by the US-led anti-Daesh coalition under the pretext of fighting the Daesh terrorist group on the ground, a serious threat to national security.
The war in Syria has killed more than 387,000 people and displaced millions of people since the start of 2011 with the brutal crackdown on anti-regime protests.
