The Syrian Observatory For Human Rights

More than 120 casualties and injuries in the violent aerial and ground shelling on Afrin area

Turkish warplanes and artillery destroy Jendires preparing to storm it

Aleppo Province, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights: the number of casualties continues to rise in Afrin area as a result of intense Turkish shelling which targeted its villages and towns, by the Turkish warplanes and by Turkish ground forces, where the more citizens have died affected by the aerial and ground bombardment and shelling, raising to at least 19 including 2 children and 4 women, the number of people who were killed on Monday the 5th of March 2018, and with the death of more citizens, the death toll has increased to 171 Syrian citizens of the Kurds, Arabs and Armenians, including 29 children and 25 women, who were killed in the Turkish aerial, rocket and artillery shelling, and executions carried out against citizens in Afrin area, since the 20th of January 2018, while hundreds others were injured with varying severity, some of them have permanent disabilities.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also documented the injury of about 103 civilians including children and women with varying severity, as a result of the violence escalation of shelling, and the death toll is expected to rise because there are some people in critical situation, and the intensive artillery and missile shelling was accompanied by Turkish aerial bombardment that targeted Jendires town and villages in its countryside, in preparation for storming it, where violent clashes are taking place between the Turkish forces and the rebel and Islamic factions against YPG and the Self-Defense Forces, in areas at the outskirts and vicinity of Jendires town in the southwestern countryside of Afrin; and in Sharra Township in its northeastern countryside, where the Turkish forces have been able to advance and control a new village, raising to 97, the number of villages and towns -including two towns (Rajo and Bulbula)- the number of villages and towns controlled by the Turkish Forces and the factions since the start of “Olive Branch” Operation on the 20th of January 2018, which is equivalent to 28% of the total towns and villages of Afrin, while it rose to 338 including 68 soldiers of the Turkish forces, the number of the members and fighters of the Turkish forces and the factions who were killed in the clashes against the Kurdish Units in Afrin area, while it rose to 309, the number of fighters of the YPG and the Self-Defense forces who were killed in the shelling and clashes in Afrin countryside, also hundreds of citizens, fighters and soldiers were injured with different severity, some of them have permanent disabilities.

These accelerated control operations came after the entry of the regime forces’ National Defense Forces (NDF) to Afrin area, since the 20th of February 2018, where since the mentioned date until the 4th of March 2018; the Turkish Forces and the factions have taken control of more than what they have controlled during the first month of their operations, where the number of areas that have been controlled by Operation “Olive Branch” since the entry of NDF is 49 villages and the town of Rajo, the Turkish forces were also able to enter Sheikh Hadid town and became at the outskirts of Jendires town in the southwestern countryside of Afrin, and the vicinity of Sharra town in the northeastern countryside of Afrin, along with controlling more than half of Midanki lake aka “17 Nisan” lake, and reaching an area about 12 km away of the important city of Afrin, where this period witnessed the death of at least 58 members of regime forces’ NDF, where they entered earlier in an agreement between the Kurdish Forces and the regime forces, which allows forces of the latter to be deployed in Afrin area, which is witnessing an attack by Turkish Forces and opposing Syrian factions.