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Afrin Activities: Turks advance slightly into kill box, explain sensitive and gentle shelling of aid convoy

Turkish-backed rebels score small advance in Afrin -- map

[ALMASDARNEWS] The Ottoman Turkish-backed rebels scored a small advance in the Afrin region of Aleppo on Friday after a fierce battle with the Kurdish-led YPG forces.

According to pro-opposition activists, the Ottoman Turkish-backed rebels captured the town of Muskan in the Rajou District, forcing the YPG to retreat further south towards the city of Afrin.

In addition to their advance at the Rajou District, the Ottoman Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army
... the more palatable version of the Syrian insurgency, heavily influenced by the Moslem Brüderbund...
 (FSA) seized the town of Balfour near the imperative Jandaris axis in southern Afrin.

YPG activists claimed that at least ten FSA rebels were killed during their attack, while the overall corpse count for the Kurdish forces is unknown.

As a result of this advance, the Ottoman Turkish-backed forces now control over 415 square kilometers of territory inside the Afrin region of Aleppo.

Turkish forces yesterday shelling convoy headed to Syria's Afrin region

[AlAhram] The Ottoman Turkish army struck a convoy entering Syria's Kurdish-held Afrin region, which Ankara said carried fighters and weapons but Kurdish forces said was made up of civilians entering with food and medicine.

In a statement on Friday, the Ottoman Turkish military said a fleet of some 30-40 vehicles of the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia had approached the main town of the northwest Afrin region. It said artillery targeted the convoy "carrying terrorists, weapons and ammunition".

The YPG said the convoy, which arrived in Afrin late on Thursday, had transported civilians from the Jazeera region further east and other towns under the control of Kurdish forces.

Birusk Hasaka, the YPG front man in Afrin, said the convoy included hundreds of people. The shelling set some cars ablaze, wounding at least ten people and killing one passenger.

"The convoy was headed to stand in solidarity with the people of Afrin, carrying food aid and medical supplies," he told Rooters.

"As always all attention and sensitivity was shown so that civilians were not harmed," the Ottoman Turkish military said on Friday. It released aerial video footage showing a series of kabooms and smoke rising from a country road.

President Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday the Ottoman Turkish army was making every effort to avoid harming any civilians, which was extending the duration of the operation. Defence Minister Nurettin Canikli has previously dismissed reports of harmed civilians as false.

Human Rights Watch said on Friday it had investigated three attacks in Afrin last month in which Ottoman Turkish troops failed to prevent civilian casualties. The air strikes and shelling, on a cluster of tents, a poultry farm, and a house, killed 26 civilians, including 17 children, it said.

"It appears that vulnerable civilians are facing displacement and death because of the way The Sick Man of Europe Turkey
...just another cheapjack Moslem dictatorship, brought to you by the Moslem Brüderbund....
's latest offensive is being conducted," said Lama Fakih, deputy Middle East director at the U.S.-based group.

Since the onset of Syria's conflict in 2011, the YPG and its allies have carved out three autonomous cantons in the north. Their territory expanded as they defeated Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems....
 with U.S. help, although Washington opposes their autonomy plans, as does the Syrian government.

This week, militias allied to Damascus deployed to Afrin to help fight the Ottoman Turkish assault. The Damascus government has also been allowing Kurdish fighters, civilians, and politicians to pass through its terrority to reach Afrin in recent weeks.
Posted by: Fred 2018-02-24
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=508825