After controlling the entire area of Afrin… violent clashes break out between the forces of the “Olive Branch” Operation against the militiamen loyal to the regime in the northern countryside of Aleppo
Aleppo Province – The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights: fighting returned to break out in the fronts of Afrin in the north-western countryside of Aleppo countryside, but one of the both conflicting parties changed in this new round of the attacks of the forces of the “Olive Branch” Operation, where the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitored the break out of violent fighting between the regime forces and gunmen loyal to them against the Turkish-led “Olive Branch” Operation Forces including Syrian rebel and Islamic opposition factions, and the clashes are concentrated in the vicinity of Kimar village and in areas on the contact lines between the both parties in the northern countryside of Aleppo, as a result of an attack by the factions that are in control of Afrin, within their attempts to advance in the area and expand their scope of control, where the clash areas are witnessing exchange of targeting between the both parties, while no information about casualties was reported yet.
These control operations come in the wake of the Turkish control on Afrin area completely on the 18th of March 2018, where this control took place after a military operation launched by Turkey on the 20th of January 2018, and finished with controlling the entire area of Afrin and the displacement of hundreds of thousands of citizens, and the withdrawal of the YPG from the area, and after 1500 fighters at least of the YPG and the Self-Defense forces were killed, since Operation “Olive Branch” started, while 525 members and fighters of the Turkish forces and the factions including 78 soldiers of the Turkish forces, were killed in the clashes against the Kurdish Units in Afrin area, and 91 members at least of regime forces’ NDF were killed in the Turkish shelling since they started to enter on the 20th of February 2018, and the SOHR also documented 289 including 43 children and 28 citizens, the number of civilians of the al-Kurds, Arabs and Armenians, who were killed in the Turkish aerial, artillery and missile shelling, and in executions against several citizens in Afrin area since the 20th of January 2018, also the shelling injured hundreds of citizens with varying severity.