Turkish intelligence nabs 9 YPG/PKK militants in Syria

ANKARA – Anadolu Agency

Turkish National Intelligence Service (MIT) on Sept. 14 brought to Turkey nine YPG/PKK militants, who were behind the attack that killed  two Turkish soldiers during Operation Olive Branch in northern Syria, according to Hatay governor.

The militants were caught in a joint operation by MIT and the Turkis gendarmerie forces in Syria's Afrin city and brought to southern Hatay province Erdal Ata said at a news conference.

They were involved in Jan. 23, 2018 terror attack in Rajo area of Afrin that left Lt. Oguz Kaan Usta and Specialist Sergeant Mehmet Muratdagi dead.

The militants had taken away with them the body of the lieutenant which could only be found after 58 days.

Ata said the militants were caught in accordance with the confession of a Syrian national PKK militant, who was identified by the initials M.C. and arrested by Turkish security forces on Sept. 3, 2018 in Rajo.

"We know that there are other names involved in the incident. We will do whatever necessary [to get them]," Ata said.

On Jan. 20, Turkey launched Operation Olive Branch to remove YPG/PKK
and Daesh militants from Afrin. On March 18, Turkish troops and the Free Syrian Army liberated the Afrin district center.

The Turkish Intelligence Agency on Sept.12 brought Yusuf Nazik -- a key plotter of the 2013 Reyhanli attack -- from the Syrian port city of Latakia to Turkey.

Nazik, 34, who was marked in the blue category of the Interior Ministry's wanted terrorists list, confessed that on a tip off from Syrian intelligence units, he scouted the crime scene prior to the attack and moved explosives from Syria to Turkey.