Turkey Hits Syrian Kurd Group Again

ANKARA, , (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 22nd Oct, 2016 ) - Turkey hit Kurdish militia targets in northern Syria for the second time in less than 72 hours, the military said Saturday, as Ankara vowed further action.

Rockets struck 70 People's Protection Units (YPG) targets Friday, the Turkish armed forces said in a statement that did not reveal whether any militia fighters had been killed. The strikes came after two Ankara-backed Syrian opposition fighters were injured when YPG forces opened fire south of the flashpoint town of Jarabulus, the military said, quoted in the official Anadolu news agency.

Turkey views Syria's YPG and Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) as terror groups linked to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), staging an insurgency in Turkey since 1984.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu threatened further action against the YPG and PYD, saying that if they "continued to attack (Syrian opposition fighters) fighting against Daesh", the Islamic State group, Turkey would "do what is necessary".

Quoted by Anadolu, the minister again accused the YPG of seeking to create its own larger "canton" rather than focusing on the fight against IS, pointing to "attacks on moderate opposition" as evidence of this.

The PKK is proscribed as a terrorist organisation by the United States and European Union. Late Wednesday, Turkish jets struck YPG positions and the armed forces claimed they killed up to 200 fighters from the group.