Turkish army hits YPG/PKK targets in Syria's Tal Rifat

By Omer Koparan and Adham Kako

AZAZ, Syria

The Turkish Armed Forces on Wednesday struck positions affiliated with the YPG/PKK terrorist group in Syria's northern city of Tal Rifat.

Howitzers deployed in the area-of-operations of Turkey’s Operation Euphrates Shield shelled YPG/PKK positions in Tal Rifat, located just east of Afrin.

Afrin has recently been the target of YPG/PKK terrorism. 

On Sunday, the group targeted civilian parts of the city, leaving at least two people dead. And on Wednesday morning, a bomb-laden vehicle blew up in Afrin without causing casualties.

For the last three years, Tal Rifat has been occupied by the YPG/PKK, which has dubbed the territory between Tal Rifat and Manbij as the “Shahba Canton”.

The YPG/PKK occupied Tal Rifat in 2016 in hopes of linking Afrin to areas under its control east of the Euphrates River, thus establishing a zone of influence along Syria’s border with Turkey.

Syria’s Al-Bab district, however, which is located between Tal Rifat and Manbij, falls within Operation Euphrates Shield’s area-of-operations, thus disrupting the YPG/PKK’s sought-for territorial link.

Some 250,000 refugees from Tal Rifat and its outskirts have taken up temporary residence in the opposition-held city of Azaz, which is located adjacent to the Euphrates Shield zone.