First Turkish soldier killed during Syria operation

AKKALE, Turkey - Turkey said on Friday that one of its soldiers was killed in northern Syria, the first such fatality in its offensive against a Kurdish militia for a third day, while tens of thousands of people were forced to flee.

Three more soldiers were injured in the operating zone, the Turkish Defense Ministry said in a statement after clashes with the militia on Thursday. Further details were not disclosed.

Fighting broke out in several locations along the roughly 120-kilometer front where operations are focused, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and a Kurdish military official said on Thursday.