(Bloomberg) -- Two Turkish soldiers were killed and two others were wounded in an attack in northern Syria, Turkey said late Saturday.

The attack against an armored vehicle occurred in the “Euphrates Shield area,” a zone spanning about 2,000 square kilometers (about 770 square miles) that was taken under Turkish control in 2017, according to a statement by the Defense Ministry. The assault was carried out by “terrorists,” the ministry said, without naming a specific group.

“In the aftermath of the attack, terror targets in the area were identified and hit effectively,” the ministry said. The Syrian military and Kurdish YPG militants were targeted in the retaliatory attacks, Haberturk TV said, without saying where it got the information.

Turkish troops and allied Syrian groups took the “Euphrates Shield area” under control in March 2017, following months-long clashes with Islamic State militants. Local police forces in the area are being trained by Turkey while the Health Ministry operates hospitals and the Education Ministry helps run schools there. A Turkish university has established facilities in the area, where the Turkish lira is widely used.

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