The Syrian Observatory For Human Rights

The regime forces start to deploy in Afrin area and the Turkish warplanes target Jendires Township with ground shelling leaving wounded in Afrin city

The military operations are continuing in Afrin area in the north-western countryside of Aleppo, where the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitored that the warplanes carried out several raids this dawn, on areas in Jendires Township and other places in its countryside in the south-west of Afrin area, and the SOHR also monitored shelling by the Turkish forces and the forces of the “Olive Branch” Operation targeting areas in Afrin city after the midnight of Tuesday – Wednesday, which injured 6 persons at least including 4 children, and intersected sources confirmed to the Syrian Observatory that the regime forces which entered Afrin yesterday evening, started to deploy in Afrin’s townships, where they started to distribute their points on the contact lines with the Turkish forces in the townships of Jendires, Sheikh Hadid, Raju, and Sharra, from the south-west of Afrin to its north-east, with the exception of the front of Bulbula.

And the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights published yesterday that explosions shook areas in the countryside of Afrin, caused by shelling by the “Olive Branch” Operation Forces who targeted areas in the southeastern countryside of Afrin, and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights learned the shelling coincided with the entry of the vehicles and machines of regime’s forces to Afrin area, in order to be deployed in accordance with the agreement reached between YPG and the regime forces, accompanied by shelling by YPG and the forces of the regime on areas of presence of the “Olive Branch” Operation Forces, at the borderline between Turkey and Afrin, while the clashes continue on the fronts between the Kurdish Forces against the Turkish Forces and the rebel and the Islamic factions, in areas in the northeastern and southwestern countryside of Afrin, in conjunction with clashes in Rajo area in the western sector of Afrin, amid exchange of targeting on the clash areas between both parties, where the “Olive Branch” Operation Forces have managed until now to control 49 villages, in addition to Bulbula town, which is about 14% of the total villages of Afrin, and the Syrian Observatory also published yesterday that that the Turkish forces and their allied Syrian rebel and Islamic opposition factions, completed to unite their controlled areas on the northern border line of Afrin with Turkey, to impose their control over about 50 km of this border, and to expand their control to more than 150 km from the west of the Euphrates River to Shenkal area in the north-west of Afrin, and this control came after the Turkish forces expanded their control and after they managed to take the control of Arab Wayran area separates between Jabal Barsaya and the rest of the controlled areas of the forces of the “Olive Branch” Operation on the northern border line of Afrin with Turkey, expanding the control of the Turkish forces and their allied factions participating in the operation, to 45 villages at least as well as Bulbula town, and the Turkish forces are fighting desperately to impose their control over the entire border line between Afrin, Iskenderun and Turkey.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitored the human losses caused by aerial, artillery and rocket shelling in which the SOHR has documented since the 20th of January 2018, the death of 112 Syrian citizens of the Kurds, Arabs and Armenians, of the residents of Afrin city or have displaced to it, including 23 children and 17 citizen women, as the number of casualties has increased after documenting casualties who were killed during the second week of shelling of Afrin, and extracting more bodies under the rubble of the destruction caused by the heavy shelling on the area, while tens others were injured with varying severity, some of them have amputated limbs and permanent disabilities, and the numbers of human losses have also escalated in the ranks of the both conflicting parties, where it has increased to 244, the number of the members of the forces of the “Olive Branch” Operation who have been killed in this operation since it was launched on the 20th of January 2018, they are 39 casualties of the Turkish forces, and 205 fighters of the Syrian rebel and Islamic opposition factions, while it has increased to 219 at least, the number of the fighters of the YPG and the Self-Defense forces who were killed in these military operations, the aerial and artillery shelling and the targeting, while tens of members of the both parties were injured with varying severity, which may raise the death toll even more, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also monitored during the first month of Operation “Olive Branch”, repeated targeting to positions in the south, the north and the north-east of Afrin city, targeting vital constructions where the artillery Turkish shelling targeted the area of Afrin Hospital, and a school in its countryside, and the warplanes targeted Maydanki Dam “the 17th of Nisan Dam” causing material damage, amid tension and fears of citizens for destroying the dam which would flood large spaces of Afrin, and the warplanes carried out several raids since Operation “Olive Branch” was launched on the 20th of January 2018, on 3 archeological sites, which are Deir Messhmesh area in the south-east of Afrin, Al-Nabi Hori area in the north-east of Afrin, and Ein Dara archeological area in the south of Afrin, and the strikes resulted in material damage in the areas of Deir Messhmesh and Al-Nabi Hori, and caused great destruction to Ein Dara area, and this intensive shelling on Afrin area which is semi-besieged, and the targeting of the archeological sites by the Turkish warplanes, caused rage among locals, who accused the Turkish forces of an attempt to eliminate the archeological sites that represent the civilizations in the area of Afrin.