INFOGRAPHIC - PYD/PKK attacks continue to target civilians in Turkey

By Erdal Turkoglu and Izzet Mazi

HATAY/KILIS, Turkey (AA) - The PYD/PKK terror group is continuing to target civilians in Turkey's bordering Hatay and Kilis provinces.

The terror group carried out 90 attacks in the provinces in the last two weeks from Syria's Afrin region since Turkey launched Operation Olive Branch to clear terrorists from Afrin.

A total of seven people, including two Syrian nationals, lost their lives in the attacks and 107 people including children were wounded.

Out of the 90 attacks, 88 were rocket attacks, one was a missile attack and another was a mortar shell directed at civilians in Turkey; 34 of these attacks took place in Kilis city center while 56 were carried out in Hatay's Reyhanli, Hassa and Kirikhan districts.

Teenager Fatma Avlar, 51-year-old Syrian asylum seeker Nader Al Fares, Rifat Sinirli and Ahmet Sanverdi were killed during rocket attacks in Reyhanli while Sahin Elitas, a 30-year-old Turkish Electricity Distribution Company (TEDAS) worker, was killed in the mortar attack on Kirikhan; 68 others were injured in the incidents.

In the attacks on Reyhanli, 320 houses or businesses were damaged while 33 vehicles became unusable.

Kilis was hit by 34 rockets, killing Muzaffer Aydemir, 72, and Syrian Tariq Tabbaq, 28; 39 others were wounded.

The attacks on Kilis left nine houses, a mosque and 12 vehicles destroyed.

Turkey launched Operation Olive Branch on Jan. 20 along with Free Syrian Army (FSA) to clear PYD/PKK and Daesh terrorists from Afrin, northwestern Syria.

Since the start of the operation, the PYD/PKK has carried out cross-border attacks on Turkey by firing rockets on civilian neighborhoods.

According to the Turkish General Staff, Operation Olive Branch aims to establish security and stability along Turkish borders and the region as well as to protect Syrians from terrorist oppression and cruelty.

The operation is being carried out under the framework of Turkey’s rights based on international law, UN Security Council resolutions, its self-defense rights under the UN Charter, and respect for Syria's territorial integrity.