ANKARA – Turkey has dispatched a tank convoy to the Syrian border justhours after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says his country willdefeat Kurdish militants in the border region of Afrin.

On Saturday, a military source was reported by the Anadolu Agency as sayingthat the tanks were being sent to join Turkish border units in the region.

Meanwhile, Turkish security forces targeted several Kurdistan Workers’Party (PKK) positions in the Afrin district of Syria’s Aleppo.

Turkish artillery fired at least 36 times during the attacks in Afrin’sBosoufane, Cindirese, Deir Bellout and Rajo districts.

Earlier, Erdogan announced that Turkey’s military operation in Syria’snorthwestern province of Idlib will crush Kurdish militants in Afrin.link>

“With the Euphrates Shield operation we cut the terror corridor right inthe middle. We hit them one night suddenly. With the Idlib operation, weare collapsing the western wing,” Erdogan said, referring to Afrin.A member of the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) fires a machine gunin the Syrian city of Raqqah’s eastern al-Sinaa district, on June 21, 2017.(Photo by AFP)

In 2016, Turkey launched its Euphrates Shield military offensive, whichspans Syria’s Afrin and Manbij regions, saying it sought to fight off theDaesh Takfiri terrorist group. Later, however, Ankara was apparently usingthe drive to push against the Kurds.

The Turkish operation, however, comes without the Syrian government’spermission, prompting repeated calls by Damascus to stop the militaryintervention.