1 dead as YPG/PKK attacks schools, mosque in NW Syria

ANKARA, Turkey

At least one student was killed and seven others injured in a YPG/PKK terror attack in northwestern Syria, Turkey’s Defense Ministry said on Tuesday.

The “bloody-minded” terror group targeted two schools and a mosque in Afrin’s city center with Grad missiles, the ministry said on Twitter.

Turkey’s Operation Euphrates Shield and its successors, Operation Olive Branch in 2018 and Operation Peace Spring have all aimed to eliminate terrorist elements from near the country’s borders, including the terrorist groups Daesh and the YPG/PKK.

On Oct. 9, Turkey had launched Operation Peace Spring to eliminate terrorists from northern Syria in order to secure Turkey’s borders, aid in the safe return of Syrian refugees and ensure Syria’s territorial integrity.

In its more than 30-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK -- listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and the European Union -- has been responsible for deaths of 40,000 people, including women, children and infants. The terrorist YPG is the PKK's Syrian branch.