Six Turkey-backed Syrian rebels killed in operation in northern Syria

ANKARA – Anadolu Agency

DHA Photo

Six Turkey-backed Free Syrian Army (FSA) members have been killed in clashes to take control of three towns in al-Rai, while Turkey hit 99 Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and four Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) targets, the army said.

In a statement, the Turkish General Staff said six opposition fighters had been killed and 18 others wounded in clashes on Oct. 31, the 69th day Turkey’s Euphrates Shield Operation.

The Euphrates Shield Operation was launched in late August to clear Syria’s northern border area of “terrorists.” 
The operation has seen both ISIL and PYD, which Turkey regards as a terrorist organization due to its links with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), targeted by the FSA plus Turkish tanks, artillery and aircraft. 

Turkey regards both the PKK and the PYD as terrorist groups but the U.S. and EU only view the PKK as a terrorist organization. 

The army added that since the beginning of the operation in late August, 33 mines and 1,375 handmade explosives had been destroyed.