32 YPG and PKK fighters killed in Turkish operation

Shafaq News / The Counter-Terrorism Group in the Kurdistan Region announced that dozens were killed and injured in the Turkish operation launched earlier today.

A statement by the Group said that the Turkish army carried out more than 25 raids on YPG and PKK sites on the outskirts of Hasakah, villages in Aleppo, Raqqa, Kobani, north Syria, Qandeel mountain, Mawat sub-district villages, Korek mountain the outskirts of Biradawst, and mount Athos.

It added that 32 YPG and PKK fighters were killed until the moment.

A security source in al-Sulaymaniyah reported that Turkish aircraft targeted sites of the Kurdistan Workers Party in Qandeel mountain.

The extent of the damages is not immediately clear.

The Turkish defence ministry said early on Sunday it carried out air strikes on Kurdish militant bases in northern Syria and northern Iraq, which it said were used to carry out attacks on Turkey.

The strikes targeted bases of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and the Syrian Kurdish YPG forces, which Turkey says is a wing of the PKK, the ministry added in a statement.

More than 50 aircraft and 20 pilots participated in the operation, according to AHarb Turkish Channel.

Turkey said on Tuesday it plans to pursue targets in northern Syria after it completes a cross-border operation against the PKK in Iraq, following a deadly bomb last weekend in Istanbul.

The government has blamed Kurdish militants for the blast on Istanbul's Istiklal Avenue on Nov. 13 that killed six people and injured more than 80. No group has claimed responsibility for the blast on the busy pedestrian avenue, and the PKK and SDF have denied involvement.

Turkey has conducted three incursions so far into northern Syria against the YPG. President Tayyip Erdogan has previously said Turkey could conduct another operation against the YPG.