Turkish-led forces expel Kurds from Afrin in Syria
TURKEY’S flag was flying in the Syrian city of Afrin yesterday after Turkish troops and rebels backed by Ankara chased out Kurdish militia forces to seize control of the northern city.
In a major victory for Ankara’s two-month operation against the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) in northern Syria, Turkish-led forces pushed into Afrin apparently unopposed, taking up positions across the city.
The advance came as Syria’s civil war entered its eighth year with heavy fighting on two fronts – around Afrin and in the rebel enclave of Eastern Ghouta near Damascus.
Hundreds have been killed and thousands forced from their homes by the ferocious assault in Ghouta, where Russian-backed forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad are battling to retake the last rebel enclave outside the capital.
In Afrin, AFP correspondents saw Turkish forces and their Syrian allies in all the neighbourhoods of the city after they made a lightning advance inside yesterday.
Rebels fanned out across the city, giving victory signs and taking pictures with Turkish tanks parked outside official buildings.
The flags of Turkey and Syrian rebel groups were raised in the city and a statue of Kurdish hero Kawa, a symbol of resistance against oppressors, was torn down. Civilians were seen fleeing the city and plumes of smoke rose into the sky as mines exploded.
About 250 000 civilians had left in recent days after proAnkara fighters all but surrounded the city, fleeing southwards to territory still held by the YPG or controlled by the Syrian regime.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced that the Turkey-backed fighters had taken control of the city centre at 8.30am.
He said a large number of Kurdish fighters had “fled with their tails between their legs”.
The Turkish leader has said the operation could move on to other Kurdish-controlled areas of northern Syria.
“Their project of creating a terrorism corridor and a terrorist state has been thwarted,” Turkish government spokesman Bekir Bozdag said.
Residents said it appeared that YPG units had withdrawn from the city without a fight.
Officials with the Kurdish militia could not be reached for comment.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitor relying on sources on the ground, says more than 280 civilians have been killed since the campaign began on January 20 – including 16 at a hospital on Friday.
Ankara has denied the reports, including one on Friday’s hospital strike, and said it took the utmost care to avoid civilian casualties.
The Observatory said more than 1 500 Kurdish fighters had been killed since the start of the offensive on January 20, most of them in air strikes and artillery fire. More than 400 pro-Ankara rebels had also been killed, it said.
The Turkish military says 46 of its soldiers have died. – AFP