Istanbul: Ankara reported on Sunday that a counterattack was launched after Kurdish militants attacked bases in northern Syria with artillery and rockets, injuring four Turkish soldiers.

The Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which Turkiye and Western countries consider a terrorist organisation, along with the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia, which leads the US-allied Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), carried out the attacks, according to Turkiye's defence ministry.

Turkiye has dozens of bases in northern Syria and has conducted numerous cross-border military incursions there in recent years. According to the ministry, the four soldiers were taken to a hospital. It continued, "Ample response is given to the terrorists with powerful attacks on targets.

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Tayyip Erdogan, the president of Turkey, stated earlier on Sunday that "we could never be safe" as long as there is an armed terrorist group operating in northern Syria and Iraq.

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In a speech in the city of Sanliurfa in the southeast, he added, "Hopefully in the upcoming term we will increasingly continue our efforts in this direction," in reference to elections scheduled for May 14.

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