Turkey: Announces 184 Kurdish fighters ‘neutralized’ in Syria and Iraq

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The Turkish armed forces began in the early hours of Sunday morning to pound positions of the PKK (Kurdistan Workers’ Party) and YPG (People’s Protection Units) organizations in areas of northern Iraq and northern Syria respectively.

Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said on Monday that 184 Kurdish fighters were “neutralized” (ie killed or wounded) during the “anti-terrorist” operation launched by Turkey in northern Syria and northern Iraq.

“Since the start of Operation Forked Sword, 184 terrorists have been neutralized by fire (…) from vehicles and aircraft,” Mr. Akar said, according to Turkey’s state-run Anadolu news agency.

The Turkish armed forces began in the early hours of Sunday morning to pound positions of the PKK (Kurdistan Workers’ Party) and YPG (People’s Protection Units) organizations in areas of northern Iraq and northern Syria respectively.

Always according to the Turkish Defense Minister, in the first phase of the operation, 89 targets were destroyed, including hideouts, strongholds and/or warehouses of the Kurdish fighters.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been threatening since May to launch a new large-scale military operation in northern Syria, and the November 13 bombing on Istiklal Street in the heart of Istanbul, which Ankara blamed on the PKK (Kurdistan Workers’ Party ) and the YPG (People’s Protection Units), accelerated developments.

The two organizations denied any involvement in the bomb blast in Istanbul that killed six people and injured 81 others.

Mr Erdogan threatened again yesterday to order a “ground operation” in Syria.

RES-EMP

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