In conjunction with the Security Council’s efforts to lift the siege imposed on hundreds of thousands of Syrian people trapped in the Eastern Ghouta… Turkey imposes a siege on hundreds of thousands of other Syrians in Afrin
The Turkish forces and the factions of Operation “Olive Branch” separate Afrin by firearm from the rest of the Syrian areas and encircle with it tens of tens of its related villages
Within the continuation of Operation “Olive Branch” in its 53rd consecutive day, in Afrin area in the north-western section of Aleppo province, the Turkish forces are continuing their advancement in the area, and towards the areas that are still under the control of Kurdish forces, and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitored that the Turkish forces and the rebel and Islamic factions managed to achieve advancement in the area, where they managed to advance into the south of Afrin coming from Jendires area, towards the areas they advanced into in the East of Afrin city, where the SOHR published 72 hours ago that the Turkish forces are seeking to besiege Afrin city by advancing from the east and southwest of Afrin and meet, to complete the siege of Afrin city and surrounding villages and the villages that are still under the control of the Kurdish Forces in Afrin countryside, and separate them from the rest of the Syrian areas completely.
This advancement the Turkish forces achieved, did not result in meeting with their forces coming from the south until now, but the area separating between them is being monitored by firearm, by the Turkish forces and their allied factions, thus, they managed to impose their military and firearm siege over Afrin city, and separate it from the rest Syrian areas, as well as the villages related to it from both western and north-western sides, reaching to the villages related to Maabatli town within this besieged circle, and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitored that the warplanes carried out several strikes this morning, targeting the vicinity of Afrin city, in conjunction with targeting by the Turkish forces and the rebel and Islamic factions to each move to Afrin or coming out from it, in an attempt to clamp down on the city even more, where local sources confirmed to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights that people were shot while they were fleeing from Afrin city today morning, towards the towns of Nubl and Al-Zahraa, where they paid large sums to smugglers for reaching them to the towns of Nubl and Al-Zahraa which more than 16 thousand citizens have displaced to during the past few days.
And the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitored yesterday that hundreds of people from Afrin area displacing to the towns of Nubl and al-Zahraa in the northern countryside of Aleppo, and in the past 24 hours more than 2000 civilians have reached both towns, including hundreds of children and female citizens, and rising at the same time to over 16000, the number of displaced civilians who reached Nubl and Zahra during the past few days, as a result of the violence escalation of the Turkish shelling and military operations in the area, while the people who remained in Afrin are living tragic humanitarian conditions, they are estimated at hundreds of thousands, and who displaced to Nubl and Zahra as a result of the difficulty of securing housing and shelter for all displaced persons.
Where the number of human losses has increased as a result of the ongoing clashes between the Turkish forces and their allied rebel and Islamic factions against the YPG and the Self-Defense Forces, where it rose to 431 including 71 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 398, the number of fighters of the YPG and the Self-Defense forces who were killed in the shelling and clashes in Afrin countryside, since the start of Operation “Olive Branch”, while 81 members at least of regime forces’ NDF were killed in the Turkish shelling since they started to enter on the 20th of February 2018.
Also the area of Afrin located in the north-western section of Aleppo province, is still witnessing continuation of the interruption of water and electricity, after the Turkish forces tended to cut them off after they were able to control a strategic facility, which is Midanki Dam, a Dam that provides wide areas of Afrin with electricity and water, and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights published that aerial bombardment operations, violent ground clashes and tragic humanitarian conditions are worsening every day, with the Turkish attack narrowing the cycle of death, after more than 1 million persons have gathered in Afrin city and in villages around it, fleeing a death they fear that it may chase them to the place of their displacement, and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitored the Turkish Forces being able to control a strategic facility, which is Midanki Dam, a Dam that provides wide areas of Afrin with electricity and water, and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights learned from several reliable sources that the Turkish Forces have cut off the power of Midanki Dam, aka “17 Nisan”, and also cut off the water which added a new human tragedy to the dire humanitarian conditions of hundreds of thousands of people living in Afrin, amid Turkish killing for the inhabitants of the area and the people who displaced to it, following Turkish aerial and ground targeting for telecommunication towers and the cut off of communications in most of Afrin area.
High resolution link of the map of the advancement of the Turkish forces and the factions operating in Operation “Olive Branch” and their ability to besiege Afrin city and the areas controlled by the Kurdish forces in its vicinity and countryside
