At least five Turkish soldiers were killed when their tank was hit in an attack carried out by Kurdish YPG militia fighters on Saturday in northwest Syria’s Afrin region, Turkey’s armed forces confirmed to state-run Anadolu news agency.

The latest attack brought to seven the number of Turkish soldiers killed on Saturday in Operation Olive Branch, which Turkey launched against the YPG in Afrin last month.

The latest clashes brought to 14 the number of Turkish troops killed so far in the operation, AFP reported.

The Turkish army and allied Ankara-backed Syrian rebel forces are seeking to oust the YPG from its western border stronghold of Afrin but the operation so far has been marked by fierce clashes.

In addition to the five killed in the tank incident, another soldier was killed in a clash and a second killed on the border area. No details were released regarding these incidents. 

But a statement issued late Saturday confirmed five servicemen inside the tank had been killed. 

AFP meanwhile reported that in retaliation, Turkish war planes carried out air strikes on the area from where the attack was carried out, destroying shelters and munitions dumps.