The defence ministry said the militants belonged to the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia and the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK.

Turkey regards the PKK and YPG to be identical, while the US views them as separate groups, having banned the PKK as terrorists but recruited the YPG as its main allies in Syria in the campaign against Islamic State.

Turkey has long called on Washington to withdraw support for the YPG, expressing hope that Trump would revise the policy of the previous administration of former president Joe Biden.

Turkish forces and their allies in Syria have repeatedly fought with Kurdish militants there since the toppling of Bashar Al-Assad in December.

Turkey has said that the Syrian Democratic Forces, or SDF – a US-backed umbrella group that includes the Kurdish YPG – must disarm or face military intervention.

Under the Biden administration, the US had 2,000 troops in Syria fighting alongside the SDF and YPG.