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Three women fighters from the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), including a deputy commander, were killed in a in northeast Syria on Friday, as fears rise over a in the area.

Deputy commander Jiyan Tolhildan and fighters Barin Botan and Roj Khabur were travelling in a vehicle in the city of Qamishli when a missile hit them, the SDF, the Kurdish-led forces that control much of northeast Syria,  on Saturday.

SDF commander in chief, Mazloum Abdi  on Sunday that the three women were "heroines" who "rescued humanity" by participating in the war against the Islamic State (IS) group.

"Turkey's targeting them undermines war against ISIS. Partners must make greater efforts to stop violations. We will avenge," he said.

US Central Command  on Sunday that the deputy commander was known as Salwa Yusuk or Jiyan Afrin.

"Salwa was a critical SDF leader who led forces in combat vs ISIS since the height of the fight to defeat the vile ideology in NE Syria in 2017," CENTCOM said.

Turkey says the Kurdish-led forces in northeast Syria are tied to the , an armed group fighting for greater Kurdish autonomy in Turkey.

Turkey and the PKK have fought each other for decades, costing tens of thousands of lives. Ankara has designated the PKK as a terrorist group.

Turkey has for months threatened to launch a large-scale operation in northern Syria with the stated aim of clearing the area of "terrorists".

Its last large-scale operation in the area, which it called Operation Peace Spring, killed scores of civilians and from their homes in 2019.

Turkey also conducts bombings in Iraqi Kurdistan, where much of the PKK is based. One such bombing  last week.