Image: aa.com.tr
On December 13, a Turkish service member was killed in an attack by the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) on a military position in the southern part of the area of Afrin, according to an official statement of the Ministry of Defense of Turkey.
The Turkish Ministry of Defense said that the deadly attack was launched from the town of Tell Rifaat and added that the Turkish military “retaliated to the attack immediately.” Tell Rifaat, which is located south of Afrin, is under the control of the YPG and the Syrian Arab Army (SAA). A unit of the Russian Military Police is also deployed in the town.
Syrian pro-government activists said that the Turkish military responded by striking a position of the SAA around Tell Rifaat injuring two Syrian service members. In response to this unjustified attack, the SAA artillery shelled several positions of the Turkish military in the village of Jalbal, north of Tell Rifaat.
The Turkish military will not likely escalate the situation around Afrin because it is currently preparing to launch a military operation in the Kurdish-held area on the eastern bank of the Euphrates River.
