BALADI NEWS
The Turkish military has established 41 checkpoints between the border towns of Ras al-Ain and Tal Abyad in northeast Syria, the Turkish Ministry of National Defence announced on December 12.
In an official statement, the ministry said that the checkpoints, all vehicles' engine numbers are being registered and labeled for future identification. The checkpoints also feature highly-developed electronic devices and 47 bomb searching and detection dogs.
“Road checks are being carried out 24-7 in order to prevent incursions by PKK/YPG and ISIS terrorists, mainly their car-bomb attacks. Additionally, our commandos are also preventing smuggling thanks to the in-depth search and sweep operations being conducted,” the statement reads.
According to the Ministry, 8,272 vehicles have been checked and tagged on Turkish checkpoints, so far.
The statement also says there are plans to increase the number of checkpoints to 66.
In the last two months, a series of bombings claimed the lives of dozens of militants and civilians in the Turkish-controlled part of northeast Syria. Ankara claims that Kurdish forces are behind these attacks.
The Turkish Ministry of National Defence published a video of the search and sweep operations carried out in the checkpoints.
Source: Turkish media.