7 YPG/PKK suspects in bombings in Afrin, Syria arrested

HATAY, Turkey

Seven people allegedly affiliated with the YPG/PKK terror group and responsible for 11 bomb attacks in northern Syria’s Afrin province were arrested on Sunday.

Afrin – just across Turkey’s southern border – was liberated from the terrorist YPG/PKK by Turkey’s Operation Olive Branch in 2018, but has still been subject to occasional attacks by the group.

The alleged terrorists were caught by the security department of Afrin's coordinator following a June 16 operation where security authorities raided their cells thanks to intelligence information and were then questioned by security officials.

The suspects are accused of burning cars, wounding nine civilians in 11 bomb attacks, deliberate attempted murder, possessing explosives, and affiliation with a terror group. They will be tried in Afrin.

Since 2016, Turkey has launched a trio of successful anti-terrorist operations across its border in 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 – listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the US and EU – has been responsible for the deaths of 40,000 people, including women, children and infants. The YPG is the PKK’s Syrian offshoot.

*Writing by Ali Murat Alhas