Turkey kills 1 PKK, 4 YPG members

Turkish security forces killed four members of Syria's Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) in northern Syria, Turkey's Defense Ministry said on Monday.

The YPG members were "neutralized" after they opened "harassing fire and attempted to infiltrate" into Turkey's Operation Peace Spring zone in northern Syria, the ministry tweeted.

Meanwhile, a Turkish airstrike "neutralized" one member of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in Operation Claw Tiger region in northern Iraq, the ministry said in the same tweet.

Turkish authorities often use the term "neutralized" to imply "terrorists" killed, wounded, or captured in security operations.

Turkey carried out a series of offensives in northern Iraq for many years. In June last year, its military launched a new ground offensive dubbed "Operation Claw Tiger" targeting the PKK positions in Sinjar, Qandil, Karacak, Zap, Avasin-Basyan and Hakurk regions. The PKK has been using Iraq's Qandil Mountains as its main base for years.

Turkey's forces and the YPG members often exchange fire on the Syrian border, and the tension has increased in the region since early January after the killing of three Turkish soldiers.Ankara sees the YPG as the Syrian branch of the PKK group.

The PKK, listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union, has been rebelling against the Turkish government for more than three decades, claiming more than 40,000 lives. (ANI/Xinhua)

( With inputs from ANI )