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Syrian forces enter Afrin to repel Turkish attack
Syrian regime forces entered Afrin in north-western Syria yesterday to help Kurdish forces defend the area against a Turkish attack.
Syrian state media reported that members of the “Popular Forces” arrived in Afrin to “support the locals against the aggression waged by the Turkish regime”. These new “Popular Forces” are made up of the Iranian-backed Popular Mobilisation Units (PMU).
Nouri Mahmoud, a spokesperson for the Kurdish YPG militia said that “the Syrian government has responded to the call of the duty and sent military units on this day… to deploy along the border and take part in defending the unity of Syria’s territory and borders”.
Turkey launched its military campaign called “Operation Olive Branch” in the northern Syrian enclave of Afrin last month, aiming to force the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union party (PYD) and its military wing the YPG out of Afrin and to create a buffer zone on its southern border. Soon after it began, the Kurdish authorities in Afrin called on the Assad government to “carry out its sovereign obligations,” and send troops to help defend the border from Turkish attacks.
The Syrian regime intensified its bombardment of Eastern Ghouta yesterday. The Syrian Air Force and Russian fighter-bombers are believed to be involved in the aerial bombing campaign. The United Nations appealed for political intervention to stop the attacks. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least 250 civilians had been killed the last 48 hours and 1,000 people had been injured. As many as 350,000 people are reported to be trapped in Eastern Ghouta.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry yesterday acknowledged that dozens of its citizens were recently killed in Syria, most likely in a US air strike near the Euphrates River deconfliction line, which separates pro-Assad forces and Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces. Media reports at the time suggested that more than 500 pro-Assad fighters supported by artillery, tanks, rocket systems and mortars, were advancing towards an SDF military facility where US and UK special forces personnel are based.