FILE PHOTO: Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan addresses members of parliament from his ruling AK Party during a meeting at the Turkish parliament in Ankara, Turkey, January 16, 2018. Yasin Bulbul/Presidential Palace/Handout via REUTERS

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkey’s army said it shelled Kurdish positions in Syria’s Afrin region on Friday and Saturday, hitting shelters and hideouts used by militants from three groups, the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), PYD and YPG.

The militants had earlier fired on Turkish positions, the army said in a statement.

President Tayyip Erdogan said this week he would crush the Syrian Kurdish militia in Afrin, which he viewed as a security threat to Turkey.

Defence Minister Nurettin Canikli said on Friday that Turkey’s operation in the region had started with cross-border shelling, but no troops have gone into Afrin.