ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Three Turkish soldiers were killed in a car bomb attack while carrying out roadside checks on vehicles in northeast Syria on Thursday, security sources said.

The sources said the attack was at the town of Suluk, 10 km (6.2 miles) southeast of the Syrian town of Tel Abyad, bordering Turkey.

Both towns are in an area that Turkey and allied Syrian rebels took control of in a cross-border incursion launched last October against the Kurdish YPG militia.

Ankara views the YPG, the main component of the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) that helped the United States defeat Islamic State, as a terrorist group with links to Kurdish militants on Turkish soil.

Turkey’s offensive was widely condemned by Ankara’s Western allies, who said the assault could hinder the fight against Islamic State in Syria.

State-owned Anadolu news agency cited the Turkish Defence Ministry as saying three soldiers were killed in the car bomb attack.