(Zaman Al Wasl)- A senior commander in the Turkey-backed Free Syrian Army said dozen of Kurdish YPG militia were taken captive amid state of panic as the Turkish army stepped up its ground and aerial campaign on the border town of Afrin.
Azad Sha’bo, a Kurdish commander in the FSA elite units, told Zaman al-Wasl that the military operation will not be ended before the liberatino of Afrin from the PKK wing in Syria.
Sha’bo revealed that tens of Kurdish men have been fighting under the banner of FSA.
Turkey on Saturday launched operation "Olive Branch" aimed at rooting out the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) militia, which Ankara sees as a terror group, from its Afrin enclave in northern Syria.
The campaign has caused ripples of concern among Turkey's NATO allies, especially the United States which is still working closely with the YPG to defeat Daesh (ISIS) in Syria and fears the offensive will be a distraction.
Meanwhile, the Kurdish-led administration of northeast Syria called Tuesday for mass mobilization in defense of Afrin region against a Turkish military offensive.
"We call on all our people to defend Afrin and its pride, and contribute in all the related activities," it said in a statement without elaborating. Syrian Kurdish forces and their allies have set up three autonomous cantons, including Afrin in the northwest, since the start of the Syrian conflict, Reuters reported.
The Turkish army was Tuesday engaged in intense clashes with YPG in Afrin as the United States voiced alarm Ankara's operation could endanger attempts to bring peace to the conflict-torn country.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed at the funeral of the first Turkish soldier to be killed in the cross-border campaign that Ankara would emerge victorious from the campaign.
Turkish artillery on Tuesday pounded targets of the YPG inside Syria, the state-run Anadolu news agency said. Meanwhile, Turkish drones were also carrying out attacks, state television said.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor said "fierce clashes" were continuing especially north and southwest of Afrin.
As well as the artillery and air strikes, Turkish ground troops and Ankara-backed Syrian rebels have punched over the border several kilometers into Syrian territory, taking several villages, according to state media.
After intense exchanges, Turkey's forces took control of the hill of Barsaya, a key strategic point in the Afrin region.
The Observatory said 25 Ankara-backed rebels and 26 Kurdish fighters had been killed in the fighting so far. It has also said 24 civilians have been killed on the Syrian side but this is vehemently rejected by Turkey which says it is only targeting militants.
A Turkish soldier was killed Monday on the third day of the offensive, the first Turkish military fatality of the operation.
Sergeant Musa Ozalkan, 30, was laid to rest Tuesday with full honors in a ceremony attended by the Turkish
leadership including Erdogan.
(With Reuters, AFP)
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