STANBUL: Turkey on Friday started shelling the Syrian town of Afrin held bya US-backed Kurdish militia that Ankara considers “terrorists” in a move tooust them, the defence minister said.

The Turkish government has repeatedly warned that a full-scale operationagainst Syrian towns controlled by the Kurdish People’s Protection Units(YPG) militia, including Afrin, is imminent after the US said it wastraining a 30,000-strong border force there.

“The Afrin operation will take place,” Defence Minister Nurettin Caniklitold A Haber television.

“The presence of all the terror lines in northern Syria will be removed.There’s no other way out,” he said.Turkish troops fired on several YPG targets in Afrin to prevent theformation of a “terror corridor” on the border, the state-run Anadolu newsagency reported.

Army howitzers in the frontier Hatay province launched at least 10 roundsof artillery fire, targeting the “terror nests of the terror organisationin Afrin,” Anadolu said.

A military convoy of 20 buses carrying Syrian opposition rebels backed byAnkara also crossed over into Syria, Turkish media reported.Canikli said with the shelling “in fact, the operation has de factostarted.”

Asked about the timing of a ground incursion, Canikli said: “It could betomorrow, it could be in the evening. What we say is that this operationwill take place.”

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had reacted with fury to the announcement ofthe US-backed border force on Syria’s northern frontier with Turkey,denouncing it as an “army of terror”.

The Pentagon said it does not plan to create an “army” and that the forceis aimed at fighters from Daesh and maintaining stability in areasrecaptured from the jihadists.

Ankara however said it was not satisfied with the US assurances.The YPG is a major bone of contention in ties between Ankara and Washingtonwhich considers it a key ally in fighting Daesh.

Turkey accuses the YPG of being a branch of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’Party (PKK) that has waged an insurgency in its southeast since 1984.

Turkey needs the green light from Russia for a full cross-border operationbecause of Moscow’s military presence in the area.

In a surprise development, Turkey’s army chief General Hulusi Akar and spychief Hakan Fidan were in Moscow on Thursday for talks with Russiancounterparts on security issues and Syria.– Agencies