Turkey discovers PKK tunnel bid to Syria

Turkish security authorities discovered a 40-metre long tunnel  in its Mardin province that was being dug with the aim of linking it up with Syria.

A statement by Turkey's Mardin governorate said on Thursday that tunnel was being dug by PKK terrorists with the ultimate aim of receiving arms and ammunition through it from Syria, where its affiliate YPG operates. 

According to the statement PKK and YPG personnel would have also be brought into Turkey through the tunnel, had it been completed.

"Under anti-terror operations conducted by National Intelligence Agency (MIT) and armed forces discovered a 40-metre unfinished tunnel dug by PKK/PYD terrorists stretching from Syria to Turkey's Nusabyin district with the aim of providing ammo and personnel."

An operation is underway to destroy the tunnel and apprehend the terrorists responsible for its construction, added the statement.

Turkey and its key NATO ally the US have been at odds over the US support of the YPG in Syria. The group is the Syrian branch of the PKK which also is considered as a terrorist organisation by the US the EU and Turkey.

The US acknowledges the ties between the PKK and the YPG but it sees the group as a key partner in the fight against Daesh in Syria.

The US has been sending hundreds of trucks full of weapons, ammunitions and heavy military artilleries to the YPG under the pretext of fighting Daesh with heavy criticism from Turkey.

Ankara says the weapons being sent to YPG will eventually find its way to PKK and be used against its security forces and as well as the civilian population in the southeast.

Washington has said it will control the distribution of the weapons but some have already found their way into the hands of PKK via PYD in Syria.

Recently it was discovered that US Army failed to keep tabs on more than $1 billion worth of arms and other military equipment sent to Iraq and Kuwait, according to a declassified Department of Defense (DoD) audit, obtained by Amnesty International following the Freedom of Information Act request.

Turkey has constructed a wall that is about 700 km long on its Syrian border to control the security situation on its northern border.