3 Turkish military personnel killed in car explosion

Ankara: At least three Turkish military personnel were killed in a car bomb explosion in the area of Ankara’s military operation in northeastern Syria, the Turkish Defense Ministry said.

“On January 16, our three comrades died as a result of the car bomb explosion in the Operation Peace Spring area,” the ministry said.

On Thursday, a source in the Free Syrian Army (FSA) told Sputnik that six soldiers, including two Turkish officers, were killed in a car bomb blast in front of the military headquarters in Syria’s Tel Abyad border town.

In early October, Turkey launched Operation Peace Spring in northeastern Syria to clear the territory of Kurdish and IS (terrorist group, outlawed in Russia) fighters. Shortly after, Ankara reached two separate conditional deals with the United States and Russia. However, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan stated in mid-December that Kurdish units were not removed from the safe zone, and that Ankara would continue military operations.