ANKARA, April 5 (Xinhua) -- Turkish intelligence agency has caught a senior member of the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) in a cross-border operation in the Ayn al-Arab region of northern Syria, Türkiye's semi-official Anadolu Agency reported Friday.

The Turkish National Intelligence Organization (MIT) arrested Ipek Demir, codenamed Cavre Gever, one of the ringleaders of the YPG group, in Ayn al-Arab, and brought her to Türkiye, Anadolu said, quoting unnamed security sources, without specifying the time of the operation.

Demir joined the group in Hakkari, southeast Türkiye in 2010. She operated at a responsible level in northern Iraq's Zap, Hakurk, Avasin and Sinjar regions for about seven years. She was then sent to Syria by the group in 2017.

Türkiye sees the YPG as the Syrian branch of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, which has been listed as a terrorist organization by Türkiye, the United States, and the European Union and has rebelled against the Turkish government for more than three decades.

The Turkish intelligence agency has recently intensified its cross-border operations in northern Syria. It has recently "neutralized" Vahide Atalay, who was an important figure within the women's structure of the YPG in Syria and among MIT's priority targets, in an operation in Ayn al-Arab, according to Anadolu.

The Turkish military has launched multiple operations since 2016 in northern Syria to create a YPG-free zone along the border with the neighboring country. Enditem

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