NEWS DESK: Turkish warplanes have attacked YPG and PKK targets as Ankaramoves to help opposition fighters entering the Kurdish enclave of Afrin innorthern Syria, reported The Independent with additional input by AP.
The Turkish Prime Minister, Binali Yildirim, said the country’s air forcehad begun its aerial offensive on the region near the border between thetwo nations, which has been controlled by the Syrian YPG (People’sProtection Units) since 2012.
During a speech in the Turkish city of Bilecik, he said: “As of this momentour brave armed forces have started the aerial offensive to eliminate thePYD and PKK and Daesh elements in Afrin”.
At least seven civilians have been injured so far in the assault whichbegan at 5pm local time (3pm UK time).
The Russian defence ministry has said it is removing its military observersfrom the city of Afrin because of the Turkish attack.
A senior Turkish official said it aimed to liberate the region from thecontrol of the Kurdish militants who they say are using their toehold innorthern Syria as a base to launch attacks on Turkey.
The official said freeing the nearby town of Manbij – which the Kurds tookback from Isis in 2016 – from militant control will follow the operation toAfrin, adding that the operations are aimed at rebuilding social andeconomic infrastructure in the region.
Associated Press journalists at the Turkish border saw at least five jetsheading toward Afrin. They also witnessed a convoy of buses, believed to becarrying Syrian opposition fighters, travelling along the border acrossfrom Afrin. The convoy included trucks mounted with machine guns.
The assault has been dubbed “Operation Olive Branch” by the Turkish armedforces.
The PKK (Kurdistan Workers’ Party), the Turkish Kurdish separatistmovement, has been involved in an on and off armed conflict with theTurkish state since 1984 and has staged several terror attacks in thecountry’s major cities in recent years.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan ended his two-year ceasefire withthe Kurds after he became concerned about their growing military strengthfrom fighting Isis militants over the border.
He has claimed the PKK, which operates in Turkey, is trying to “trick” himby pretending they are the same as the YPG which only operates in Syria.
The US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces said earlier on Saturday that theaccusations of cross-border attacks were “false” and they would have nochoice to retaliate if they were attacked.
They said the “sudden and unjustified” attacks on Afrin “threatens tobreath new life” into Isis, which the militants are currently fighting. -AGENCIES