The terrorist group YPG/PKK has accelerated its efforts to lay mines and booby traps in Tal Rifat, northern Syria, near the Turkish border, according to locals and reporters on the ground.
The planting of the mines and booby traps in the center of Tal Rifat, which is occupied by the terror group, has especially accelerated.
YPG/PKK terrorists often use Tal Rifat and Manbij as bases to mount attacks on the nearby areas of Jarabulus, Afrin, and Azaz.
Aiming to slow down a possible counter-terrorism operation by Türkiye, the YPG/PKK laid anti-tank and anti-personnel mines at the entry points to some roads leading to the district center, according to information obtained by Anadolu Agency from local residents.
The terrorists are placing booby traps in some of the structures that the Turkish Armed Forces and opposition Syrian National Army units are likely to enter first if they need to evacuate the region for a possible anti-terror operation.
The terrorists also laid mines on the frontlines of the Tal Rifat district with the regions of Azaz, Afrin and Mare.
Through the joint efforts of Türkiye and the Syrian National Army, a large number of mines were found and disposed of during Operation Olive Branch and Operation Peace Spring, carried out in 2018 and 2019 in YPG/PKK-occupied regions in Afrin and east of the Euphrates River.
YPG/PKK terrorists often target Turkish security forces who provide security in the areas of the Euphrates Shield, Olive Branch and Peace Spring operations, and try to infiltrate the positions of Syrian opposition fighters from regions that the terror group was supposed to withdraw from under agreements with the US and Russia.
Since 2016, Ankara has launched a trio of successful anti-terror operations across its border in northern Syria to prevent the formation of a terror corridor and enable the peaceful settlement of residents: Euphrates Shield (2016), Olive Branch (2018), and Peace Spring (2019).
In its more than 35-year terror campaign against Türkiye, the PKK-listed as a terrorist organization by Türkiye, the US, and EU-has been responsible for the deaths of over 40,000 people, including women, children, and infants. The YPG is the PKK's Syrian offshoot.
