At least seven Turkish soldiers were killed Saturday in Syria’s Afrin province, Turkey’s state-run Anadolu Agency said.
It marked Turkish forces’ deadliest day since troops entered the Afrin area in an attempt to drive US-backed, Syrian-Kurdish YPG militia from the area last month.
Five Turkish soldiers were killed when a tank was destroyed by missile in Sheikh Haruz, northeast of Afrin, Turkish state media reported.
Footage of the attack released by the militia’s media center showed a speck of light flying across a field, hurling towards a distant target. Moments later, a tank explodes in a powerful ball of orange flames.
Turkish armed forces said a sixth soldier was killed near the border town of Kilis, and another died in an undisclosed location fighting militia forces, Anadolu reported.
Turkey launched “Operation Olive Branch” on January 20 with the aim of ending the US-allied Kurdish militia control of Afrin and the surrounding region along the Syrian-Turkish border.
Turkey has long fought Kurdish unrest in the southeastern part of the country. It’s determined to prevent the establishment of a Kurdish state across the border in Syria and has used military force in the past against Kurds and ISIS in the northern part of the neighboring country.
