Turkey battles Syrian Kurds ‘on two fronts’ in Afrin

Turkish troops have taken support a watch on of 11 Kurdish positions and created « kindly zones » in neighbouring Syria’s northwestern feature of Afrin, per Turkish media.

Experiences on Tuesday talked about the army, aided by Free Syria Army rebels, is pushing against the southern piece of the Syrian feature with fronts on the west and the east.

The Turkish army, which launched the Afrin operation on Saturday, captured the villages of Shankal, Qorne, Bali and Adah Manli, as effectively because the agricultural areas of Kita, Kordo and Bibno and four other hills in Afrin, Turkish each day Hurriyet reported.

Reveal-urge Anadolu news agency talked about that the forces launched a 2nd entrance against Afrin from Syria’s Azaz on Monday to squeeze the Of us’s Safety Units (YPG) – a Syrian Kurdish force – from both west and east in present to come on southern Afrin.

Turkey sees the YPG as a « terrorist neighborhood » thats acts because the Syrian offshoot of the Kurdistan Workers’ Celebration (PKK), which has waged a bloody three-decade combat in opposition to the Turkish impart.

Reported casualties

Turkey’s protection force presented its first fatality of the campaign after a soldier was killed in clashes with the YPG southeast of the border city of Gulbaba.

The UK-primarily primarily based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights talked a few total of twenty-two Syrian civilians had been killed by Turkish strikes and two more by Kurdish fire for the length of the operation.

It talked about Fifty four Syrian combatants had been killed, together with 19 Ankara-backed rebels, 26 Kurdish combatants and 9 unidentified figures.

Ankara has denied inflicting civilian casualties, with International Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu accusing the YPG of sending out « nonsense propaganda and baseless lies ».

Turkey launched the Afrin protection force operation on Saturday [Anadolu]

The UN Security Council discussed Turkey’s offensive and the worsening humanitarian crisis in Syria on Monday however didn’t condemn or query an discontinue to the Turkish operation.

US Secretary of Reveal Rex Tillerson, whereas visiting London, talked about he was « concerned » in regards to the offensive, and EU diplomatic chief Federica Mogherini talked about she would focus on the voice with Turkish officers.

But Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan expressed impatience with US requires to impart a transparent timetable, asserting the campaign could be over « when the target is achieved ».

« How long have you been in Afghanistan? Is that over in Iraq? » he talked about, relating to long-running US protection force presence in those countries.

Erdogan has beforehand indicated that after support a watch on is imposed in Afrin, Turkey wants to scuttle east to defeat the YPG in town of Manbij.

In the intervening time, Russia and Iran – who have a protection force presence in Syria and are working with Turkey on a peace route of – have additionally expressed anxiety.

Erdogan insisted Turkey had discussed the operation upfront with Russia, and Moscow was in « agreement ».