Mehmet Fatih Aslan
18 January 2021•Update: 19 January 2021
SANLIURFA, Turkey
Over 260 kilograms (573 pounds) of explosives were seized in Tal Abyad, northern Syria, officials in the neighboring Turkish province said Monday.
The Governor’s Office in Sanliurfa, southeastern Turkey said in a statement that local security forces in Syria continue efforts to uncover terrorist activities by the terror group YPG/PKK.
Tal Abyad was liberated from YPG/PKK terrorists by the Turkish Armed Forces and local Syrian allies in October 2019, but attempts to launch attacks continue.
Working to thwart these attacks, the local security forces captured around 260 kg of improvised explosives in the town of Suluk along with 20 pieces of mortar ammunition. Terrorist survival supplies were also seized.
In central Tal Abyad, another 2.5 kg (5.5 lbs.) of improvised explosives were found, along with anti-personnel mines weighing 4 kg (8.8 lbs.), a capsule, and three wireless receivers.
The explosives were detonated on site by bomb squad teams.
Local authorities are investigating the findings.
In its more than 30-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK – listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the US and EU – has been responsible for the deaths of nearly 40,000 people, including women, children, and infants. The YPG is its Syrian offshoot.
Since 2016, Turkey has also launched a trio of successful anti-terror operations in northern Syria, across its border, to prevent the formation of a terror corridor and to enable the peaceful settlement of residents: Euphrates Shield (2016), Olive Branch (2018), and Peace Spring (2019).
*Writing by Sena Guler
