11 killed in Afrin clashes

Clashes on Sunday between Turkish-backed rebel factions vying for influence in the northern Syrian town of Afrin left 11 fighters dead, a war monitor said.

Turkish troops and allied rebel groups seized the Afrin region from Kurdish forces in March after a two-month air and ground offensive.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said fighting that erupted on Saturday in several districts “had left 11 dead and 27 wounded”. Turkish troops stationed in the town imposed a curfew on civilians from Saturday evening in a bid to avoid bloodshed, the Observatory said.

The clashes pitched the majority of the pro-Ankara rebels against a group of some 200 fighters who were accused of “disobeying” Turkish forces and “committing abuses”, the monitor said.