The Free Syrian Army, in cooperation with the Turkish armed forces, took control of four new villages near the town of Afrin in the early morning hours of Saturday. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan earlier said that the joint forces may “enter Afrin at any moment.”
Erdogan on Saturday said that Afrin would be handed over to its original inhabitants after it has been fully captured. Local Turkish media said that the joint joint forces have taken control of the villages of Kafrroum and Qarwat Qulaq in the sub-district of Sharran west of Afrin as well as the village of Houran in the sub-district of Balbala and the village of Zallaqia in the sub-district of Jandaris west of Afrin.
Since the start of Operation Olive Branch, Turkish armed forces and the Free Syrian Army groups have captured over 150 targets from the PYD militias. They have driven the PYD militias from five sub-districts in the Afrin area, namely Sharran, Balbala, Sheikh Hadid, Jandaris, and Rajo. The Turkish army and FSA groups have now linked the town of Azaz in northern rural Aleppo with the town of Atmah in northern rural Idlib.
Activists said that the joint forces are only four kilometers from the center of the town of Afrin after controlling the village of Mariamin.
Operation Olive Branch aims to oust the PYD militia from the entire area of Afrin and enable the displaced people to return to their homes. (Source: Syrian Coalition’s Media Department)
