Turkey “neutralised” 10 members of Syria’s Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) in northern Syria on Wednesday, according to the country’s Defense Ministry.

According to the ministry, the YPG members were killed as they prepared to attack Turkey’s Operation Euphrates Shield and Operation Olive Branch military zones.

Turkish authorities frequently use the phrase “neutralised” to refer to “terrorists” killed, injured, or apprehended during security operations.

The YPG and Turkish military tensions escalated after the YPG used anti-tank weaponry to attack a police checkpoint in Mare village in the Operation Euphrates Shield zone on April 22, killing one Turkish police officer.

Turkey announced on Tuesday that its forces had killed six YPG fighters in northern Syria, a day after claiming the deaths of 12 more.

On the Syrian border, Turkish military and YPG members frequently exchange fire.In northern Syria, the Turkish army launched Operation Euphrates Shield in 2016, Operation Olive Branch in 2018, Operation Peace Spring in 2019, and Operation Spring Shield in 2020.

The operations, according to Turkish authorities, seek to eliminate terror threats against Turkey and to create a secure zone to ease the return of Syrian refugees to their homes.

Ankara considers the YPG to be the Syrian wing of the banned Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

Turkey has designated the PKK as a terrorist organisation, and it has been fighting the Turkish government for more than three decades.