Turkey kills dozens of Kurdish fighters in Syria

Turkish troops and Syrian rebels have killed 71 Syrian Kurdish fighters in northern Syria this week, Turkey's military said in a statement on Friday.

MENA

1 min read

The New Arab & agencies

10 March, 2017

The operations are part of Turkey's months-long incursion into its war-torn Syria [Getty]

Turkish troops and Syrian opposition forces have killed - or "neutralised" - 71 Syrian-Kurdish fighters in northern Syria this week, a military statement said on Friday.

The operations are part of Turkey's months-long incursion into its war-torn neighbour in a push against the Islamic State group but also in an effort to restrict US-backed Syrian Kurdish militias.

Ankara has declared Syrian-Kurdish forces a terrorist organisation and which it considers to be linked to its home-grown Kurdish insurgency.

Since the Turkish operation started in August, the joint Turkish and Syrian opposition forces have killed as many as 2,647 IS militants and 425 Syrian Kurdish fighters in Syria.

It says that more than 2,000 square kilometres (772 square miles) in northern Syria are now under control of the Turkish-backed forces.