Turkish Troops Open Retaliatory Fire on Kurds in Tall Rifat – Defence Ministry
20:24 18.01.2019
ANKARA (Sputnik) – The Turkish troops, deployed in Syria's Afrin, opened fire on Friday at the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) in response to the latter's fire from the city of Tall Rifat, the Turkish Defense Ministry said in a statement.
"Units of the Turkish Armed Forces, deployed in Afrin, gave a relevant response to the attack by YPG terrorists from Tall Rifat," the statement said.
The ministry's comment comes after in early December, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced that Ankara was ready to launch a military operation against Kurdish militias – which it considers to be terrorist groups – on the eastern bank of the Euphrates as well as in Syria's Manbij, located near the Turkish border, if the United States did not facilitate the pullout of the militia from the region.
Erdogan later said that the operation had been postponed following his December 14 phone conversation with US President Donald Trump, who later announced plans to withdraw US troops from Syria.
© Sputnik
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