Turkish security forces detained at least two YPG/PKK terrorists in northern Syria, near Turkey's southern border, the Turkish National Defense Ministry said Wednesday.

"Two YPG/PKK terrorists, found to be carrying out terrorist activities aiming to disrupt the peace and secure environment in the Operation Olive Branch region, were arrested before achieving their treacherous ambitions," the ministry said on Twitter.

The Turkish troops are in northern Syria as part of a cross-border security and counterterrorism initiative.

Since 2016, Turkey has launched a trio of successful anti-terrorist operations across its border in northern Syria to prevent the formation of a terror corridor and enable peaceful resettlement by displaced locals: Euphrates Shield (2016), Olive Branch (2018) and Peace Spring (2019).

Turkey is involved in war-torn Syria to protect innocent lives, eliminate terrorists and facilitate the return of hundreds of thousands of civilians, who were uprooted by the war, to their homes.

The YPG, which is backed by the United States under the pretext of fighting Daesh, previously received numerous condemnations by international human rights bodies, including Human Rights Watch (HRW), Amnesty International and the United Nations, for its violations of human rights, including arbitrary arrests, forced recruitment of child soldiers and the forceful relocation of local people.

In its more than 40-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK – listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and European Union – has been responsible for the deaths of 40,000 people, including women, children and infants. The YPG is the PKK's Syrian offshoot.