Ankara Retaliates With Artillery Fire at Afrin After Kurdish YPG Missile Attacks

Turkey's President Erdogan vowed Sunday to "purge terrorism" from the country's southern borders, adding that he plans to launch an assault against Peoples' Protection Units (YPG) in Syria's Kurdish Afrin enclave "in the coming days."

Turkish armed forces have shelled YPG units' strongholds in the city of Afrin in response to rocket fire from northern Syria, Turkey’s state-run Anadolu Agency reported on Monday.

READ MORE: Erdogan Pledges to 'Purge Terrorism' in Kurdish Enclave in Northern Syria

According to the media, on Sunday night, YPG militias fired a large number of missiles targeting settlements in the bordering to Turkey Syrian region of Azaz controlled by the opposition Free Syrian Army. The assaults caused material damage, but there were no reports of casualties. Ankara's forces, which were deployed in northern Syria after the completion of its anti-terrorist Operation Euphrates Shield, conducted punitive strikes at YPG targets in Afrin.

READ MORE: Turkish Forces Shell Syrian Kurds Targets in Northern Syria — Reports

Turkey has been shelling the Afrin district of Aleppo targeting the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) for three days in a row, with the Turkish army sending military equipment to the country's border with Syria under strict security measures. The latest attack comes amid Ankara's statement that it plans to carry out a military operation in the northwestern Syrian regions of Manbij and Afrin controlled by Kurdish militia forces.

Ankara considers the YPG militia to be a terrorist organization since it is affiliated with the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), banned in the country. Previously, Ankara had repeatedly condemned Washington for military support of supporting and supplying arms to Syrian Kurds, however, Erdogan expressed hope that the US would not "take sides with" the YPG militias during the upcoming operation in Afrin.