A suicide bomber detained by security forces in northern Syria last week confessed that she was given $1,500 by the PKK’s Syrian offshoot, the YPG, to transfer the vest from Manbij to Afrin.
The female terrorist, identified as Muna al-Sawash, claimed that she was instructed to deliver the suicide vest to the YPG in Afrin, TRT Haber reported Wednesday.
“They told me to transfer the suicide vest to a secret cell in Afrin and they were going to give me $1,500 in return,” the terrorist said, adding that she was told that security forces would not search her as she is a woman. She continued by saying that she accepted the offer for the money and did not know about the secondary remote detonator.
The female terrorist had control over the primary detonator, while the YPG/PKK terrorists had control over the secondary detonator via cell phone.
The security forces at a checkpoint in Afrin caught the terrorist red-handed as she entered the Ashrafiyya neighborhood, as she was about to call the YPG/PKK, which would then detonate the bomb near civilians.
YPG bomb attacks have plagued northern Syria, as the terrorist group regularly targets moderate opposition-held areas.
Since 2016, Turkey has launched a trio of successful counterterrorism operations across its border in northern Syria to prevent the formation of a terror corridor and enable the peaceful settlement of residents – namely, the Euphrates Shield (2016), Olive Branch (2018) and Peace Spring (2019) operations.
In its more than 40-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK – listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union – has been responsible for the deaths of over 40,000 people, including women, children and infants.
Local people living in areas held by the YPG have long suffered from its atrocities, as the terrorist organization has a notorious record of human rights abuses, ranging from kidnappings, recruitment of child soldiers, torture, ethnic cleansing and forced displacement in Syria.
The U.S. has primarily partnered with the YPG in northern Syria in the fight against the Daesh terrorist group. Turkey strongly opposes the YPG's presence in northern Syria, which has been a major sticking point in strained Ankara-Washington relations. The U.S. has provided military training and thousands of truckloads of weaponry to the YPG, despite its NATO ally's security concerns.
