Turkey says forces killed 24 Kurdish militants in Syria, Iraq in a week

Mar 13, 2025 - 09:32

People cross a street, after the Kurdish-led and US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which controls much of Syria's oil-rich northeast, signed a deal agreeing to integrate into Syria's new state institutions, March 11, 2025. (REUTERS)

Turkish forces killed 24 Kurdish militants in northern Iraq and Syria over the past week, the defence ministry said on Thursday, continuing attacks in the region after a disarmament call from the PKK leader and a separate accord between U.S.-backed Kurds and Damascus.

Speaking at a briefing in Ankara, a defence ministry source said the deal between the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and Damascus did not change Turkey's commitment to counter-terrorism in Syria, and that it still demands that the YPG militia, which spearheads the SDF, disband and disarm.

Turkey views the SDF, which controls much of northeast Syria, as a terrorist group linked with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militant group, which has waged a decades-long insurgency against the Turkish state. It has carried out several cross-border offensives against the group.

The PKK's leader, jailed in Turkey, called for the group to disarm last month. The group is based in northern Iraq.

Source: Reuters