2 YPG/PKK terrorists plotting suicide attack nabbed in northern Syria

By Jeyhun Aliyev

ANKARA (AA) - Two women linked with the YPG/PKK terrorist group were arrested in northern Syria while plotting a suicide attack, the Turkish Interior Ministry announced on Wednesday.

In a statement, the ministry said that the terrorists were arrested as security units acted on a tip-off that two foreign women will depart from Manbij and arrive in Afrin via Azaz to carry out a suicide attack.

During the search, a suicide vest with a remote-control device, 5.6 kilograms (12.3 pounds) of explosives, as well as four electric detonator ignition systems were seized.

It has been four years since the Afrin district was liberated by the Turkish Armed Forces and Turkish-backed group Syrian National Army (SNA) from the YPG/PKK terrorist organization.

Afrin was largely cleared of YPG/PKK terrorists on March 18, 2018 through Turkiye’s anti-terror offensive Operation Olive Branch.

In its more than 35-year terror campaign against Turkiye, the PKK – listed as a terrorist organization by Turkiye, the US and the European Union – has been responsible for the deaths of at least 40,000 people, including women, children and infants. The YPG is the PKK’s Syrian offshoot.

Euphrates Shield (2016) is one of the three successful anti-terror operations that Turkiye has launched since 2016 across its border in northern Syria to prevent the formation of a terror corridor and enable the peaceful settlement of residents. The other two are Olive Branch (2018) and Peace Spring (2019).