Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Turkey says it has sent troops into Afrin to drive out Kurdish militias

The Turkish military has suffered the deadliest day in its offensive against Kurdish militias inside northern Syria, with seven soldiers killed.

Five of the troops died when their tank was attacked in the Afrin region.

PM Binali Yildirim vowed to make the militias "pay for this twice as much" and jets later struck Kurdish targets north-east of the city of Afrin.

Turkey's "Olive Branch" operation was launched on 20 January to drive the Kurdish YPG militia out of Afrin.

Turkey views the YPG (People's Protection Units) as a terrorist group and an extension of the banned Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has fought for Kurdish autonomy in south-eastern Turkey for three decades.

What does Turkey say happened?

The military said in a statement that the US-backed YPG attacked the tank in Sheikh Haruz, north-east of Afrin city.

Two other soldiers were killed earlier, the military said, one in Afrin and another on the Turkish side of the border in an attack blamed on the YPG.

Turkey has now lost 14 soldiers in fierce clashes during the offensive.

What is the operation about?

Mr Yildirim reiterated on Saturday that the aim of operation "Olive Branch" was to eradicate what he called "a terror belt" along Turkey's borders.

"It is an operation aimed at liberating Arabs, and our Kurdish and Turkmen brothers who have been groaning under oppression," he told members of the governing Justice and Development Party (AKP).

Turkish troops are being accompanied by pro-Turkey rebels from the Free Syrian Army (FSA).

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday that the Turkish-led forces were taking high ground and would now head towards the city of Afrin itself, saying: "There is not much [further] to go."

Turkey says it has killed some 900 Kurdish fighters, but this cannot be independently verified.

What do Kurdish reports say?

Thousands of people have been displaced by the Turkish-led offensive that also involves about 10,000 Syrian rebels.

A Syrian Kurdish health official said on Saturday that 150 civilians had been killed and 300 wounded since the start of the Turkish operation, but this also cannot be independently verified.

Image copyright AFP Image caption Funerals for Kurdish fighters killed in the Turkish operation have taken place in Afrin

"The Turkish air raids and artillery shelling have been mostly targeting civilians, including women and children," Angela Rasho told Kurdish TV.

She urged international monitors to "come here and see the situation for themselves".

What has been the international reaction?

Western powers, including the US and France, are urging restraint.

Thousands of Kurds protested outside the Council of Europe in Strasbourg on Saturday against the offensive.

They carried banners reading "Erdogan assassin" and "defend Afrin", and shouted slogans such as "silence kills" outside the Council of Europe offices.

One protester, Suleyman Akguc, told Agence France-Presse: "We want to sound the alarm because the Kurds in Afrin have fought against the Islamic State and are being massacred today. The silence of the European leaders is deadly."

Image copyright Reuters Image caption Fighters from the Free Syrian Army rebel group are fighting alongside Turkish troops

A similar protest was held in Paris, with about 2,000 protesters marching from the Gare de l'Est towards the Place de la Republique.

President Erdogan sought to reassure his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron on Saturday that Turkey was not trying to seize territory in northern Syria.

In a phone call, he told Mr Macron that Turkey had "no eye on the territory of another country" and that the operation was "aimed at purging" Afrin of "terror elements", the state-run Anadolu news agency reported.

Mr Macron riled Turkish leaders last week when he said in a newspaper interview that France would have a "real problem" if Turkey was engaged in an "invasion operation".

Separately, Human Rights Watch on Saturday accused Turkish border guards of firing on would-be asylum seekers trying to enter from Syria.

A government official denied the accusation, saying Turkey had an "open-door policy".

Turkey has taken more Syrian refugees than any other nation.</s>Seven Turkish soldiers were killed on Saturday during Operation Olive Branch, according to a Turkish General Staff statement.

The statement said one soldier was killed in clashes with PKK/KCK/PYD-YPG and ISIL terror groups and the other in Turkey's Kilis province in an attack perpetrated by the same terror groups.

Later on Saturday, the Turkish General Staff said five more soldiers had been killed in Sheikh Haruz, northeast of Afrin, when the terrorist group targeted a Turkish army tank.

Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim expressed his condolences in a statement on Twitter.

“They will pay for this twice as much. We have given the necessary response instantly, and we continue to do so,” Yildirim said.

Immediately after the attack at Sheikh Haruz, an air operation targeting terrorist shelters, hideouts and weapon emplacements in the area was launched at 5.52 p.m. local time (1452GMT).

Turkey launched Operation Olive Branch on Jan. 20 along with Free Syrian Army (FSA) to clear PYD/PKK and ISIL 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.</s>US troops in Kurdish uniform may be targeted by Olive Branch forces – Turkish Deputy PM</s>Turkey says it has suffered its deadliest day yet in northern Syria since launching its offensive against YPG Kurdish fighters there more than two weeks ago.

On Saturday, eight Turkish soldiers were killed, according to a Turkish army statement.

Some died after their tank came under fire from Syrian Kurdish forces.

Turkey wants to push the YPG, which it says are "terrorists", out of Afrin to create a buffer zone along its southern border.

YPG fighters targeted the Turkish army tank in Sheikh Haruz, northeast of Afrin, killing five soldiers. Three other soldiers were killed in fighting elsewhere in Afrin.

Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim promised to retaliate in a statement on Twitter.

"They will pay for this twice as much. We have given the necessary response instantly, and we continue to do so," Yildirim said.

Immediately after the attack at Sheikh Haruz, an air operation targeting YPG positions and weapon storages in the area was launched, the army said.

Turkey's Operation Olive Branch began on January 20 along with the Free Syrian Army (FSA) to clear armed Kurdish groups and Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) fighters from Afrin in northwestern Syria.

Since the start of the operation, Kurdish fighters have carried out cross-border attacks by firing rockets into southern Turkey.

According to the Turkish army, the operation aims to establish security and stability along Turkish borders and the region as well as to protect Syrians from what Ankara called "terrorist oppression and cruelty".

Meanwhile, Syrian rebels shot down a Russian warplane in northwestern Idlib province on Saturday, the Russian defence ministry said.

The pilot of the aircraft, a Sukhoi 25, used his ejection seat after his plane was hit by a man-carried portable air defence missile.

He was later killed when rebels tried to capture him.

"The pilot managed to report the ejection in the area controlled by the militants of Jabhat al-Nusra, but later he died fighting the terrorists," a statement by the Russian ministry of defence said.

The downing of the aircraft has been claimed by Hay'et Tahrir al-Sham, commonly known as Tahrir al-Sham. The group is spearheaded by the former al-Nusra Front, which used to be al-Qaeda's branch in Syria.

Moscow has retaliated with dozens of attacks in which at least 10 civilians were killed, according to local activists. Russia says it has killed 30 fighters.

There has been heavy fighting in Idlib for weeks. The UN says about 100,000 civilians have been displaced.</s>Turkey's Prime Minister warned that Kurdish YPG forces will pay "twice as much" following the deaths of seven Turkish soldiers in Syria's Afrin province.

Prime Minister Binali Yildirim made the threat in a tweet Saturday, Turkey's state media said, which marked Turkey's deadliest day in its military operation dubbed "Operation Olive Branch" in northern Syria.

Turkish forces entered the Afrin area in an attempt to drive US-backed, Syrian-Kurdish YPG militia from the area last month.

Five Turkish soldiers were killed when a tank was destroyed by a missile in Sheikh Haruz, northeast of Afrin, Turkish state media reported.

Footage of the attack, released by the militia's media center, showed a speck of light flying across a field, hurling toward a distant target. Moments later, a tank explodes in a powerful ball of orange flames.

Turkish armed forces said a sixth soldier was killed near the border town of Kilis, and another died in an undisclosed location fighting militia forces, Anadolu reported.

Turkey launched "Operation Olive Branch" on January 20 with the aim of ending the US-allied militia control of Afrin and the surrounding region along the Syrian-Turkish border. Turkey has long wanted to establish a safe zone: a 19-mile-wide strip of land in Syria along the border that Turkey helps control.

In Ankara's eyes, Syrian Kurds are virtually indistinguishable from Kurdish separatists in Turkey, a group it has long considered terrorists. The Kurdish YPG control a large chunk of northern Syria, so a safe zone would create a buffer along the border.

The risk to US relations

Turkey's high-stakes incursion in Afrin risks inflaming tensions even further with its NATO ally, the US, which is funding the very group Turkey is trying to defeat, the Kurdish YPG, in the fight against ISIS.

Shortly after their assault began, Turkish forces said they had killed 260 Kurdish and ISIS fighters in the region. The claim can't be independently verified, and CNN has no indication there are ISIS fighters in the area that Turkey is fighting.

Speaking with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan by phone, US President Donald Trump talked tough, saying Turkey's "Operation Olive Branch," targeting the US-backed Kurdish fighters, risked undercutting shared goals in Syria, according to the White House. Trump warned Erdogan against escalating military action in the region. Turkish officials immediately disputed that account of the call, saying the two leaders simply exchanged views on the situation.

Erdogan has also slammed the US plan to back a border protection force for Kurds in northern Syria in an effort to train and equip them to keep ISIS from coming back in, calling the effort "building an army of terror," according to Turkish state media.

Turkish presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin old CNN their operation isn't against the Kurds of Afrin or Syria.

"This is an operation against a terrorist network that claims to represent the Kurds, which is far from the truth," he said.

Kalin cited Amnesty International in pointing out that the PYD/YPG has committed war crimes by razing villages and forcibly removing local communities from their native lands.

He said the operation aims to remedy the situation and facilitate the return of Syrian refugees to their country.

"The primary goal of the operation is to clear Syrian territories of all terrorist groups," he explained, saying Turkey has fought against ISIS and cooperated with its allies in eliminating ISIS terrorists. "It is deadly wrong to think that the PKK does not pose a threat to Western countries and therefore should be seen as Turkey's problem."</s>Seven Turkish soldiers were killed Saturday in Turkey’s offensive against Kurdish militia inside Syria, including five who died in a single attack on a tank, the army said.

The losses marked the highest toll in one day for the Turkish military in operation “Olive Branch”, launched in Syria on January 20 against Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) militia seen by Ankara as a terror group.

The attack on the tank, details of which were not disclosed, was also the single deadliest attack on the military of the offensive so far.

The latest clashes brought to 14 the number of Turkish troops killed so far in operation.

The Turkish army and allied Ankara-backed Syrian rebel forces are seeking to oust the YPG from its western border stronghold of Afrin but the operation so far has been marked by fierce clashes.

The army said that one of the soldiers was killed in a clash and another on the border area, without giving further details.

In a later statement, it added a Turkish army tank had been hit in another attack, killing all five servicemen inside.

A previous statement said one serviceman was killed and another wounded in that attack.

In retaliation, Turkish war planes carried out air strikes on the area from where the attack was carried out, destroying shelters and munitions dumps, it added.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Thursday the Turkish army and Ankara-backed rebels had suffered 25 fatalities between them in the operation so far.

Meanwhile, seven civilians have been killed in mortar fire on the Turkish side of the border that Ankara blames on the YPG.

Ankara says that major progress has been made in the 15-day operation, with almost 900 YPG fighters killed so far although it is not possible to verify these figures.

Erdogan on Saturday sought to reassure France’s Emmanuel Macron over the operation, telling the French leader it was aimed against “terror elements” and that Ankara had no eye on Syrian territory.

Macron had incensed Turkish officials by saying in a newspaper interview last week that France would have a “real problem” with the campaign if it turned out to be an “invasion operation”.

During the phone call, “the two presidents agreed to work on a diplomatic roadmap in Syria in the coming weeks”, the Elysee Palace said in a statement.

Erdogan said in a speech Saturday that the Turkish forces were beginning to take mountain positions and would now head towards Afrin itself. “There is not much to go,” he said.

Erdogan’s spokesman Ibrahim Kalin meanwhile told journalists in Istanbul that the operation was going as planned but there was no timetable for its duration and it would “continue until we clear all those areas”.

But analysts and monitors say Turkey so far has taken control of limited clumps of territory around the border without yet approaching Afrin town.

Turkey says the YPG is an offshoot of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) which has waged a three-decade insurgency against the Turkish state.

However, the YPG has been working closely with the United States to fight the Islamic State extremist group in Syria.

The offensive by Washington’s fellow NATO member Ankara on a US-allied force has even raised fears of a military confrontation between two alliance powers.</s>US troops fighting alongside Syrian Kurdish militias in the same uniform may be targeted by the Turkish army due to the difficulty of distinguishing them in the heat of battle, Turkey's Deputy PM has warned.The unambiguous warning comes at a time when Turkish troops are making further advances into the Kurdish-held Syrian province of Afrin as part of 'Operation Olive Branch'. Previously, Ankara complained thatSpeaking to CNN Turk on Sunday, Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdag said if US troops wear "terrorists' clothes" and find themselves among "terrorists" of the Kurdish YPG forces attacking the Turkish troops, "there is no chance that we [will] make a distinction at this point."However, Bozdag added neither side wants open confrontation. Ankara has made it clear that US troops present in the area should stay away from where the Turks operate, and should not assist their Kurdish allies, he said.Bozdag stated.In May last year, an AFP photographer made a number of images showing armed men in uniform - identified by Syrian rebels as US SOF operators - in a pickup truck equipped with an Mk 19 grenade launcher.At the time, the Pentagon said "insignias and other identifying marks with their partner forces"The Turkish armed forces have been fighting the Kurds since January, when Ankara green-lighted a ground offensive in the Kurdish enclave of Afrin, codenamed 'Operation Olive Branch.' Syrian rebel forces loyal to Turkey are spearheading the offensive, while the Turkish military provide close air support and heavy weapons.The operation aims to drive Kurdish militias from the area, but it does not come without setbacks. Bozdag said 13 soldiers "died martyrs" during the offensive, while 39 others were injured. Meanwhile, the Turkish command says some 900 Kurdish fighters have been "neutralized" so far, the state news agency Anadolu reports.</s>Turkey’s military says it has suffered its single deadliest day in its offensive against Syrian militias in northern Syria.

Five were killed in the Afrin region when their tank came under attack.

Two soldiers were killed earlier in the day, one near the tank attack, the other along Turkey’s border with Syria.

In retaliation Turkey said its jets later struck Kurdish targets in the area from which the attack on the tank came.

Turkey’s “Olive Branch” operation was launched late last month against the YPG, Kurdish forces in Syria, a militia seen by Ankara as a terrorist group linked to Kurdish separatists in Turkey. Turkey has lost a total of 14 soldiers in its operation.

Ibrahim Kalin, a Turkish presidential spokesman, said Saturday that Turkey will not tolerate the presence of the YPG anywhere along it border with Syria.</s>ANKARA: Three more Turkish soldiers were killed Saturday in Turkey's offensive against Kurdish militia inside Syria, including one in an attack on a tank, the army said.



The latest clashes brought to 10 the number of Turkish troops killed so far in operation "Olive Branch", launched by Turkey on January 20 against Syrian Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) militia seen by Ankara as a terror group.

The Turkish army and allied Ankara-backed Syrian rebel forces are seeking to oust the YPG from its western border stronghold of Afrin but the operation so far has been marked by fierce clashes.

The army said that one of the soldiers was killed in a clash and another on the border area, without giving further details.

In a separate statement, it added a Turkish army tank had been hit in another attack, killing one serviceman and wounding another.

In retaliation, Turkish warplanes carried out air strikes on the area from where the attack was carried out, destroying shelters and munitions dumps, it added.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Thursday the Turkish army and Ankara-backed rebels had suffered 25 fatalities between them in the operation so far.

Meanwhile, seven civilians have been killed in mortar fire on the Turkish side of the border that Ankara blames on the YPG.

Ankara says that major progress has been made in the operation, with hundreds of YPG fighters killed so far although it is not possible to verify these figures.

Erdogan said in a speech Saturday that the Turkish forces were beginning to take mountain positions and would now head towards Afrin itself. "There is not much to go," he said.

Erdogan's spokesman Ibrahim Kalin meanwhile told journalists in Istanbul that the operation was going as planned but there was no timetable for its duration and it would "continue until we clear all those areas."

But analysts and monitors say Turkey so far has taken control of limited clumps of territory around the border without yet approaching near Afrin town.

Turkey says the YPG is an offshoot of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers´ Party (PKK) which has waged a three-decade insurgency against the Turkish state.

But the YPG has been working closely with the United States to fight Daesh in Syria.

The offensive by Washington's fellow NATO member Ankara on a US-allied force has even raised fears of a military confrontation between two alliance powers.</s>Ankara :Two more Turkish soldiers were killed Sunday in Turkey’s offensive against Kurdish militia inside Syria, the army said, bringing to 16 the number killed so far in the incursion.

Turkey on January 20 launched the “Olive Branch” operation against Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) militia which Ankara sees as a terror group and a threat to Turkish territory. APP
The Turkish Army suffers its deadliest day of Operation Olive Branch so far after seven soldiers are killed in clashes with the Kurdish YPG.