Turkish soldier killed in clashes with Kurdish militants in Syria - ministry

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkey's Defence Ministry said one soldier was killed and five were injured during clashes with Kurdish militants in northern Syria on Wednesday.

The casualties, which the ministry said occurred during clashes with the YPG/PKK, took place in the area where Turkey carried out its Olive Branch Operation last year, when the Turkish army wrested the Afrin region from the hands of Syrian Kurdish forces.

Turkey says the U.S.-backed YPG Kurdish militia is indistinguishable from the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, which is designated a terrorist organisation by Ankara, Washington and the European Union.

(Reporting by Orhan Coskun and Ezgi Erkoyun; Writing by Sarah Dadouch; Editing by Jonathan Spicer)