Tell Rifaat

Displaced Syrians who live in tent camps near the Turkish border are hoping to return homes once Türkiye goes ahead with the planned military operation to clear the Tal Rifaat and Manbij regions of terrorists.

Following Ankara's announcement of an upcoming military incursion in northern Syria, the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army has deployed some 5,000 armed men in the region to act with the Turkish army to clear Tal Rifaat and Manbij provinces of PKK/YPG terrorists.

"We can take Tal Rifaat in 24 hours with Turkish soldiers," SNA commanders said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The number of terrorists in Turkey has dropped to around 150, Turkish Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu has said.

Speaking at the Gendarmerie General Command 2021 Evaluation Meeting, Soylu stated that the number of acts of terrorism decreased by 95 percent between the end of 2015 and 2021.

One Turkish soldier was killed and another wounded in northern Syrian region of Tel Rifaat on May 4, during an attack by the YPG militants, the defense ministry said in a statement.

Millions of Syrians living in Turkey will be able to return to their homeland after Ankara liberates Syria's Manbij, Tal Rifaat and the region east of the Euphrates from terrorists, Turkish president said on Jan. 26.

Turkish and Russian defense ministers discussed latest situation in Syria's norhwestern Idlib and Tal Rifaat in a phone conversation on Nov. 24, according to Turkish official sources.

Turkish Presidential Spokesperson İbrahim Kalın said on April 7 that Turkey was talking to Russia about the Syrian town of Tel Rifaat and would not need to intervene in the area given Moscow's assurances that Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) militants were not present there.

As the Turkish military and the Free Syrian Army (FSA) are closing in on the strategic Syrian town of Tel Rifaat, local sources claimed on March 27 that Turkish and FSA forces have taken control of the town.

Syria's government on Feb. 14 condemned Turkey for two days of shelling targeting mainly Kurdish forces in the northern province of Aleppo and urged the United Nations to act, state media said.