ANKARA, June 14 (Xinhua) -- At least 41 members of the Syrian Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) were killed by Turkish forces in retaliation for YPG's harassing fires, Türkiye's Defense Ministry said on Wednesday.

Turkish security forces "neutralized" 41 YPG members in Syria's Tal Rifat and Manbij regions, bringing the total number of "neutralized" YPG members to 53 since Sunday, the ministry said in a statement.

Turkish authorities often use the term "neutralized" to imply that "terrorists" are killed, wounded, or captured in security operations.

The defense ministry said on Sunday that the YPG carried out simultaneous mortar and rocket harassment fires on the Operation Euphrates Shield zone of the Turkish army in northern Syria, as well as the Oncupinar police border posts in the southern Turkish province of Kilis.

The Turkish army has been attacking the YPG posts in retaliation since the weekend.

The army launched Operation Euphrates Shield in 2016 in northern Syria as part of the efforts to create a YPG-free zone along its border in the neighboring country.

Türkiye sees the YPG group as the Syrian branch of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

The PKK, listed as a terrorist organization by Türkiye, the United States and the EU, has been rebelling against the Turkish government for over 30 years. Enditem

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