ANKARA, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said Turkish military planes on Saturday launched airstrikes on targets of the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) militia in northern Syria.

"Our armed forces have begun an air operation into Afrin, targeting PYD/PKK (Democratic Union Party/the Kurdistan Workers' Party)," Yildirim said.

Turkish General Staff also confirmed "Operation Olive Branch" launched in Syria's Afrin in a statement released at local time 05:35 p.m. (1435 GMT).

Earlier in the day, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced that the Afrin operation has "actively" begun.