N. Syria: Turkish soldier martyred by PKK/YPG car bomb

SANLIURFA, Turkey

A Turkish soldier and three local security personnel were martyred in a car bombing on a checkpoint in Ras al-Ayn, northern Syria, Turkish authorities announced on Thursday.

The attack was carried out by YPG/PKK terrorists in the region liberated last year by Turkish troops in an anti-terror operation, the governor's office of Sanliurfa province in southeastern Turkey said in a written statement.

"Ten people were wounded in the same attack, seven of who are civilians. Their treatment is ongoing in Ceylanpinar Hospital [Sanliurfa], near theTurkey-Syria border and they are in non-critical condition," it added.

Since 2016, Turkey has launched a trio of successful anti-terrorist operations across its border into northern Syria to prevent the formation of a terror corridor and enable peaceful settlement by locals: Euphrates Shield (2016), Olive Branch (2018), and Peace Spring (2019).

In its more than 30-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK/YPG -- listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and the European Union -- has been responsible for the deaths of some 40,000 people, including women, children and infants.

Turkey had announced the Operation Peace Spring in October 2019, in east of the Euphrates River in northern Syria to secure its borders by eliminating terror elements to ensure the safe return of Syrian refugees and Syria’s territorial integrity.

*Writing by Firdevs Bulut