Turkey claims airstrikes north of Aleppo, killing up to 200 Syrian Kurdish fighters

The Turkish military announced on Thursday that its jets had targeted 18 positions of the Kurdish YPG forces north of Aleppo, killing 160 to 200 fighters.

Ankara said in a statement that the air strikes were carried out in response to five shells fired from the Kurdish city of Afrin into Turkish territory near Hatay.

The military said in a statement, according to Hurriyet, "Some 160 to 200 fighters of the Kurdish YPG militia group have been killed in 26 airstrikes conducted by the Turkish Air Force on Wednesday night," 

Turkish forces and fighter jets have been supporting Syrian Free Army (FSA) in recent weeks in their fight against ISIS and the YPG in parts of the country.

YPG has been supported by the US against ISIS in the last two years and Washington has urged both Ankara and YPG leadership to avoid clashes or escalation of violence between them in Syria.