Turkish warplanes hit Kurdish militia targets in Syria

Turkish warplanes resumed strikes on Kurdish YPG militia targets in Syria’s Afrin region on Friday after a five-day lull that followed the shooting down of Russian warplane elsewhere in Syria, the Hurriyet newspaper and other media reported.

Hurriyet said Turkey had halted air strikes as Russia worked on its air defense system after Syrian rebels shot down a Russian warplane in Idlib province on February 3.

State-run Anadolu news agency said Turkish warplanes hit at least six targets in air strikes that began around midnight. There was no information regarding casualties or damage, reports Reuters.

Turkey launched an air and ground offensive in Afrin on January 20 targeting Kurdish YPG fighters, which it views as a terrorist wing of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) that has waged a three-decade insurgency on Turkish soil.