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Kongreya Neteweyî ya Kurdistanê
Kurdistan National Congress
Congrès National du Kurdistan
1999
KNK
Rue Jean Stas 41 1060 Bruxelles tel: 00 32 2 647 30 84 fax: 00 32 2 647 68 49
Homepage:
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Erdogan gives order to attack Kurds and Arabs in Northern Syria`s Afrin and Manbij
Turkish army and Al-Qaeda in action after Erdogan’s orders
Hayet Al-Tahrir (previously known as Al-Nusra Front and Al-Qaeda) in Idlib opened artillery fire against the
Kurdish city of Afrin right
after Erdogan’s statements
on Saturday. The extremist
groups targeted Iska and
Celeme villages in the south
of the canton of Afrin.
The
Turkish
army also
bombarded YPG (Kurdish
defence forces fighting with
the International Coalition
against ISIS) positions in Dir
Belot village near Siye.
Late on Saturday the
extremist groups and
theTurkish army attacked
Qere Baba, Ferferke and Pira Hesrekiya villages close to the Turkish border.
Local sources stated that the Turkish army, stationed in the Azaz area in the western countryside of Aleppo,
targeted the villages of Shera district in Afrin canton with mortars. Till now, seven mortars have been fired,
one of them fell among the civilians’ houses in Kafar Jannah village, while the other mortars fell among the
olive trees and the road between Qetma and Kafar Jannah villages in the district that resulted in material
damage.
The bombardment has been ongoing intermittently till today.
Locals also reported new tank deployments in
the area by the Turkish army.
Turkish troops entered Idlib three months ago after an agreement with Russia and Iran for the three countries
to try to reduce fighting between pro-Syrian government forces and rebel fighters in the largest remaining
insurgent-held part of Syria. But the few observation posts which the Turkish army says it has established are
close to the dividing line between Arab rebel-held land and the Kurdish-controlled region of Afrin.
In 2016 Turkey launched its Euphrates Shield military offensive in northern Syria to push back Islamic State
from the border and drive a wedge between the Kurdish controlled regions.
"With the Euphrates Shield operation, we cut the terror corridor right in the middle. We hit them one night
suddenly. With the İdlib operation, we are collapsing the western wing," Erdogan said, referring to Afrin.
He also said Turkey could drive Kurds out of Manbij, which lies west of the Euphrates.