Ankara, Jan 29 (IANS): Turkey's National Intelligence Organisation has "neutralized" a key figure of the Syrian Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) in northern Syria, the semi-official Anadolu Agency reported Wednesday.
Shiraz Omer, code-named Sozdar Afrin, was killed in a pinpoint operation on the Rumailan-Malikiyah road, Anadolu quoted anonymous Turkish security sources as saying, without specifying the time of the operation.
Omer, allegedly a high-ranking official in the financial network of the group, had reportedly been closely monitored by Turkish intelligence.
Also on Wednesday, the Turkish Defence Ministry said 14 YPG militants were "neutralized" in the Operation Peace Spring region of the Turkish military in northern Syria, Xinhua news agency reported.
Amid the surprise advance led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham forces into Damascus in early December, Turkish-backed factions launched an offensive against Kurdish fighters in northern Syria, forcing the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) to withdraw from certain areas.
Turkey views the YPG, which forms the core of the SDF, as an offshoot of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).
The PKK, listed as a terrorist organisation by Turkey, the United States, and the European Union, has rebelled against the Turkish government for more than three decades.
The SDF, bolstered by US support and dominated by Kurdish units, controls extensive areas in northern and eastern Syria.
An SDF delegation met with Syria's de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa in Damascus on December 30 for the first time since the collapse of Bashar al-Assad's government on December 8, 2024.
The Turkish army launched Operation 'Euphrates Shield' in 2016, Operation 'Olive Branch' in 2018, Operation 'Peace Spring' in 2019, and Operation 'Spring Shield' in 2020 in northern Syria to create a YPG-free zone along the Turkish border within the neighboring country.
Turkish authorities often use the term "neutralize" in their statements to imply the alleged "terrorists" have either surrendered, been killed, or been captured.