Turkish military has killed 21 Kurdish fighters in northern Syria and Iraq, the Turkish Defense Ministry said on Monday, Reuters reported, BTA reported.
In a statement, the ministry said 20 fighters of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and the Syrian Kurdish "People's Protection Forces" (YPG) were killed in northern Syria, as they were preparing to carry out an attack.
"Our operations will continue effectively and decisively", the ministry added. The PKK, designated a terrorist organization by Turkey, the European Union and the United States, began its armed uprising against the Turkish state in 1984, the agency noted. The conflict has claimed the lives of more than 40,000 people.
Turkey views the YPG, the leading force in the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), as an extension of the PKK and also classifies it as a terrorist group. Since the fall of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad earlier this month, Ankara has repeatedly demanded that the YPG disband, saying the group has no place in Syria's future.
Today's operations come amid ongoing fighting in northeastern Syria between Turkish-backed Syrian factions and the YPG. Ankara regularly carries out cross-border air strikes and military operations targeting the PKK, which maintains bases in the mountainous regions of northern Iraq. Earlier today, a wanted PKK member was "neutralized" in northern Iraq.