The Turkish warplanes intensify their attacks against the regime’s popular forces in Afrin and the forces of the “Olive Branch” Operation take the control of large spaces in the second town they enter in the area
Aleppo Province – The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights: the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights learned that the Turkish warplanes targeted today in early morning, Saturday the 3rd of March 2018, that the Turkish warplanes targeted a position of the regime’s popular forces in Janna area in the north eastern countryside of Afrin, where reliable sources confirmed to the Syrian Observatory that the shelling resulted in the fall of large number of human losses of the members of the regime’s popular forces, while most of the bodies are still under the rubble of the destruction caused by the Turkish bombardment, and the SOHR has documented the death of 22 members of these forces, who have been killed since they entered Afrin area on the 20th of February 2018, where they entered within an earlier agreement between the Kurdish forces and the regime forces which allows the latter’s forces to deploy in Afrin area which is witnessing an attack by the Turkish forces and Syrian opposition factions operating with them within the operation.
In the same context, the violent fighting is still continuing between the forces of the “Olive Branch” Operation against the YPG and the Self-Defense Forces, in areas in the north-western countryside of Afrin, where the fighting is concentrated in Raju town, where the Syrian Observatory monitored that the Turkish forces and the factions managed to achieve advancement in Raju town which is the second town to be entered by the Turkish forces after Bulbula town, and the forces of the “Olive Branch” Operation managed to impose their control over large spaces of the town, amid ongoing fighting to achieve further advancement and impose their control over the entire town, where violet clashes are still ongoing in its eastern outskirts between both conflicting parties in Afrin, and the clashes are coincided with ongoing exchange of shelling between the both parties, leaving confirmed human losses, while large spaces of the town were controlled after aerial and artillery shelling which left great material damage to the property of the citizens and the infra structure of the town.
And the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights published this morning that this fighting raised the death toll in the ranks of the both conflicting parties, where it has increased to 311 including 59 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 281, the number of fighters of the YPG and the Self-Defense forces who were killed in the shelling and clashes in Afrin countryside, also 2 member of the regime forces were killed in the shelling and clashes in Afrin, also hundreds of citizens, fighters and soldiers were injured with different severity, some of them have permanent disabilities, and the SOHR learned that the Turkish forces and warplanes renewed their targeting to positions of the regime forces “the Popular Defense Forces”, in Afrin area, which resulted in the death of more members of them raising to 22 members of these forces, who have been killed since they entered Afrin area on the 20th of February 2018, where they entered within an earlier agreement between the Kurdish forces and the regime forces which allows the latter’s forces to deploy in Afrin area which is witnessing an attack by the Turkish forces and Syrian opposition factions operating with them within the operation, and the areas of Raju and Jendires witnessed continuation of the combat operations in Jendires area, in the south-western countryside of Afrin, and they managed to take the control of 2 new villages, raising to 82 villages and only one town (Bulbula), with a percentage of about 23% of the total villages of Afrin, and the Turkish forces managed to reach the outskirts of the strategic towns of Jendires and Raju, and only few hundreds of meters remain for them to reach Jendires town after the forces of the “Olive Branch” Operation managed to achieve strategic advancement 4 days ago, and linked the controlled areas of the factions and the Turkish forces operating in the “Euphrates Shield” Operation in the northern and the north-eastern countryside of Aleppo, Idlib province and the western countryside of Aleppo, through a border line stretched from the north and west of Afrin, and reaches areas mentioned above.