Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced the death of at least 18 Turkish citizens as a result of shelling of Turkish cities by Kurds from Syria, TASS reported.

Earlier, Turkey launched a military operation in Syria against Kurdish forces, which caused sharp criticism in Washington. The Donald Trump administration admitted that it had withdrawn American troops from the operation zone, but said that it did not approve of Ankara’s actions. Bills have been submitted to the Senate and House of Representatives, providing for sanctions against Turkey for the operation against US allied forces in Syria.