Turkey Launches Attack on Afrin

Turkey launched airstrikes against a Kurdish enclave in northern Syria on Saturday, marking the start of an operation to drive the YPG Kurdish militia from near Turkey’s border, Reuters reported.

Turkish troops also crossed into northern Syria on Sunday as part of a simultaneous ground operation that is being backed by some 25,000 Free Syrian Army (FSA) rebels, Reuters said.

The campaign has been dubbed Operation Olive Branch.

Turkey is looking to clear Afrin of the YPG Kurdish militia, which Ankara views as an extension of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). The PKK, designated as terrorists by the Turkish government, has carried out a number of attacks inside Turkey in recent years.

Turkish prime minister Binali Yildirim told broadcaster HaberTurk that the campaign also aims to secure a 19-mile (30km) “safe zone” in the Afrin region, Reuters said.

Turkey said it gave Russia and the U.S. advance warning before launching attacks.

“Turkey was candid. They warned us before they launched the aircraft they were going to do it in consultation with us, and we are working now on the way ahead through the ministry of foreign affairs,” U.S. defense secretary Jim Mattis was quoted as saying by Agence France-Presse.

Meanwhile, the Russian defense ministry on Saturday said that it was relocating an unidentified number of Russian troops who had been deployed to the Afrin region. This comes two days after Turkey dispatched its military chief of staff to Moscow to gain approval for an aerial campaign against the YPG stronghold.

In a statement released on Saturday, the YPG said that Russia and Turkey were equally responsible for the onslaught.

“We know that, without the permission of global forces and mainly Russia, whose troops located in Afrin, Turkey cannot attack civilians using Afrin air space. Therefore we hold Russia as responsible as Turkey and stress that Russia is the crime partner of Turkey in massacring the civilians in the region,” the statement said.

Turkish attacks on the Kurdish-held district have killed more than a dozen civilians since Saturday, according to the BBC. Citing the United Kingdom-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the BBC said Turkish airstrikes had killed 11 civilians on Sunday and at least nine people, including six civilians and three fighters, on Saturday.

On Sunday, Turkey said it hit 45 targets in the district as part of its campaign against the YPG, according to the BBC. It said earlier that its air raids had struck 153 targets belonging to Kurdish militias, the BBC reported.

Meanwhile, the YPG said it killed at least four Turkish soldiers and 10 Syrian rebels during clashes on Sunday morning, the BBC noted. Turkey, however, did not confirm the death toll.

Government Claims It Has Recaptured Idlib Airbase

Syrian troops and allied militias captured a strategic airbase from militants in Idlib province on Saturday, Reuters reported, citing Syrian state media.

The Syrian army is now clearing the Abu Zuhour airbase of landmines and is fighting militants in the surrounding area, Reuters said.

The government lost control of the Abu Zuhour air base to al-Qaida-linked militants in 2015. Recapturing the military base has been a key objective of a government onslaught against Idlib and adjacent territory in northern Hama that started in December.

Thousands of civilians have been displaced and more than 100 killed since operations in Idlib and northern Hama intensified last month, the SOHR said.

With the recapture of Abu Zuhour, the government has gained its first military base in Idlib, which would position it to make a move deeper into the rebel-held province.

More Than 20 Killed in Government Attacks on East Ghouta

At least 21 civilians have been killed by government airstrikes on and shelling of the besieged rebel-held suburbs east of the capital over the past 48 hours, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said on Sunday.

Most of those killed perished in attacks on the suburb of Douma, which is controlled by the powerful Jaish al-Islam rebel faction, the SOHR said.

Attacks over the weekend brought the total death toll in Eastern Ghouta to 219 civilians since the government escalated its offensive against the rebel enclave on December 29, the SOHR said.

The Eastern Ghouta suburbs are designated a de-escalation zone but intensified government assaults on the opposition enclave have effectively nullified the agreement.

Recommended Reads

• The Associated Press: Turkey Faces Balancing Act Amid Border Offensive in Syria
• Agence France-Presse: Terrified Children, Empty Streets in Syria’s Afrin as Turkey Attacks
• CNN: Turkish Attack in Northern Syria Threatens to Ignite Broader Conflict
• The New York Times: Syria Is Now Mr. Trump’s War
• The National: Al-Qaida’s ‘Re-Radicalization’ Schools Lure ISIL Fighters in Syria