Intelligence officials and police have discovered a secret underground tunnel between the Turkish border town of Nusaybin and Qamishli, Syria.

The governorate of Mardin where Nusaybin is located said in a statement on Friday that the National Intelligence Organization (MİT) and the local police were carrying out anti-terror operations in the area and started combing the site on Oct. 31 upon information regarding a secret tunnel. The tunnel was six meters below the ground, and its entrance on the Syrian side was "blocked" according to the governorate's statement. It was located in an empty lot, officials said, noting that they were examining "the workplace and residence" where the tunnel's entrance on the Turkish side is located.

Qamishli, along with Afrin and Kobani, are controlled by the PYD, a Syria-based faction affiliated with the terrorist group PKK. The PYD seeks to connect its Afrin canton with the territories it controls in Manbij, Kobani, Hasakah and Qamishli. Ankara fears that the group's presence on its immediate southern border will contribute to more PKK attacks through easy infiltration of militants, as well as cross-border rocket attacks.