Tens of civilian casualties and wounded in the Turkish aerial and ground shelling on villages in Afrin area with the continuation of the Turkish forces’ attack in the northern section of its countryside
Aleppo Province – The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights: the Turkish warplanes, artillery and rocket launchers, do not almost stop their targeting to Afrin area which includes hundreds of thousands of the residents of the area or those who have displaces to it from near Syrian areas and other Syrian provinces, and who fled earlier from shelling and military operations to Afrin area, which used to be controlled completely by the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) in the north-west of Aleppo province, before the start of Operation “Olive Branch” led by Turkey, and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitored today morning, Monday the 5th of March 2018, and during the last night, Turkish aerial and artillery shelling, where the Turkish warplanes targeted areas in the villages of Darwishiyah and Ali Jaya in the north-eastern countryside of Afrin, as well as areas in Jendires Township in the south-western countryside of Afrin, and the airstrikes also targeted areas in Barbanah village in Raju countryside in the western section of Afrin countryside, preceded by shelling targeted areas in Qarah Tabbah village by the Turkish forces, and the aerial, artillery and rocket shelling resulted in the death of a citizen woman at least and the injury of tens of citizens including children and women with varying severity, where some of the injuries have seriously wounded, which may raise the death toll, raising to 152 citizens including 27 children and 21 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.
Also the violent clashes are continuing between the Turkish forces and the rebel and Islamic factions against the YPG and the Self-Defense Forces, in areas in the northern and the north-eastern countryside of Afrin, through which the forces of the “Olive Branch” Operation managed to achieve new advancement and take the control of one village at least, raising to 96 including 2 towns (Raju and Bulbula), the number of the villages and towns controlled by the Turkish forces and the factions since Operation “Olive Branch” started on the 20th of January 2018, which equivalent to about 28% of the total towns and villages of Afrin, and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights published yesterday that 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, while it rose to 334 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 302, 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.