ERDOGAN PREDICTS IMMINENT FALL OF AFRIN
Kurds dispute Turkish claim that Syrian enclave has been encircled
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he hoped the northern Syrian town of Afrin would have fallen to Turkish forces and rebel allies by last night.
Turkey-backed fighters on Tuesday said they had encircled the Kurdish enclave after reaching the outskirts on Saturday, raising concerns for tens of thousands of civilians trapped in the town.
A presidential source who asked not to be named, said the president’s statement should be understood as “the encirclement will have been completed by the evening”.
Mr Erdogan, speaking to local administrators in Ankara, said civilians were being moved by car through a special corridor.
“We have got a little bit closer to Afrin. I hope that Afrin will, God willing, have completely fallen by the evening,” Mr Erdogan said.
But a top Syrian Kurdish official dismissed Turkish hopes of occupying the city by nightfall. “It sounds like Recep Tayyip Erdogan is daydreaming when he says Afrin will fall tonight,” said Redur Khalil, a spokesman for the People’s Protection Units (YPG), the Kurdish militia holding the city.
Mr Erdogan’s boastful comment came as Turkish bombing raids killed 10 fighters loyal to the Syrian government at a checkpoint near Afrin.
“The air strikes targeted a checkpoint on the only road from Afrin to regime-controlled territory to the south-east,” the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
The road bombed yesterday is the only official way out of the town and while it has not been fully captured by the pro-Turkish assault, it is in firing range.
Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman said some civilians were trying to escape from Afrin along smuggling routes.
“Regardless of who will win in the end, as soon as the battle for this small pocket begins, it will mean a massacre against civilians,” said YPG media adviser Rezan Hedo.
Mr Erdogan also raised the prospect of a cross-border operation in northern Iraq where the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) has bases.
“We are surveying the terror nests in northern Iraq at every opportunity,” Mr Erdogan said. “Soon we will bring these down on the heads of the terrorists in the strongest way.”
Syrian President Bashar Al Assad yesterday vowed to confront what he described as western plans targeting the unity of his country.
“Our war on terrorism will not cease ... we will continue to confront the western scenarios that target the unity and sovereignty of our country,” he said.
On the outskirts of Damascus, hundreds of kilometres south of Afrin, another humanitarian emergency was unfolding in Eastern Ghouta.
Opposition activists said at least 20 civilians were killed in government bombing of the rebel-held enclave near Damascus. They said the town of Hamouria was worst hit, with at least 10 killed and a rescue centre bombed and destroyed.
A 25-lorry convoy carrying food and medical aid will enter the besieged town of Douma today, Ziad Msallati, of the Syrian Arab Red Crescent, told Reuters.
Nearly 400,000 people are believed to be in Eastern Ghouta, where areas under rebel control include the towns of Douma, Harasta, Jisreen, Kfar Batna, Saqba and Hamouria.