21 days of Operation “Olive Branch” kill about 365 citizens and fighters of the Kurdish units, the factions and the Turkish soldiers in Afrin area
Targeting by the Turkish forces to places in Afrin area which is controlled by the YPG in the north-western section of Aleppo province, is continuing, where the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitored that the shelling by the Turkish forces renewed on areas in the northern and the western countryside of Afrin, in conjunction with continuation of the clashes between the Turkish forces and their allied rebel and Islamic factions against the YPG and the Self-Defense Forces, in places in Shikhorzah area in the northern countryside of Afrin, in conjunction with clashes in areas in Jendires area and the western and the south-western countryside of Afrin, amid Turkish attempts to hold their advancement in the area at the expense of the Kurdish units, and expand their scope of control after they have controlled a town and 15 scattered villages on the border line between Afrin and Turkey during the past 20 days, and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitored bombardment by Turkish warplanes targeting areas in a village in Jendires Township, in an attempt to secure the advancement of their forces in this area.
These clashes and shelling within Operation “Olive Branch” which has entered its 21st consecutive day since the Turkish announcement of launching Operation “Olive Branch”, resulted in the fall of a large number of human losses of citizens and fighters in the ranks of the both parties, the SOHR has documented the death of 70 Syrian citizens of the Kurds, Arabs and Armenians including 21 children and 13 citizen women, who used to live in Afrin area or have been displaced to it in the past years, while tens others were injured with varying severity, including children and citizen women, some of the injuries have permanent disabilities, and the clashes, the exchange of targeting and the shelling by the Turkish forces, resulted in the fall of more human losses in the ranks of the conflicted parties, where it has increased to 135, the number of the fighters of the YPG and the Self-Defense forces who were killed in these clashes during 21 days of the military operations, while it has increased to 158, the number of the fighters and soldiers of the forces of the “Olive Branch” Operation who were killed in these clashes, including more than 22 soldiers of the Turkish forces, while the others are fighters of the rebel and Islamic factions, and tens of members of the both parties were injured with varying severity, which may raise the death toll even more.