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Turkey conducts drone strike against Kurdish forces in Syria

Turkey is escalating its attacks on the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces. Meanwhile, another Islamic State leader has been confirmed dead in the country.

Turkey drone
A man poses next to the Bayraktar TB2 drone, manufactured by Turkey's Baykarat the opening of the aerospace and technology festival Teknofest Azerbaijan in Baku, on May 27, 2022. — AFP via Getty Images

Turkey carried out a drone strike against Kurdish-led forces in Syria on Thursday night, further escalating the conflict in the country.

The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) said an unmanned aerial vehicle belonging to the “Turkish occupation” struck a vehicle carrying six SDF members en route to the village of Harmi Sheikho, near the city of Qamishli in northeast Syria. Four fighters were killed, while another two were injured, the SDF said in a press release on Friday.

Turkey’s National Defense Ministry also said on Friday that it “neutralized” five “terrorists” belonging to the People’s Protection Units (YPG) and Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in an unspecified part of northern Syria, the official Anadol Agency reported.

The YPG is a Kurdish armed group that leads the SDF. Turkey considers the YPG to be the Syrian offshoot of the outlawed PKK, though the SDF denies this.

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