Turkish troops oust Kurds from Afrin in Syria
It is a major victory for Ankara’s two-month operation against the Kurdish People’s Protection Units in northern Syria
Afrin, Syria — Turkey’s flag was flying in Syria’s Afrin on Sunday after Turkish troops and Ankara-backed rebels chased out Kurdish militia forces to seize control of the northern city. In a major victory for Ankara’s two-month operation against the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) in northern Syria, Turkish-led forces pushed into Afrin apparently unopposed, taking up positions across the city. The advance came as Syria’s civil war entered its eighth year, with heavy fighting on two fronts: around Afrin and in the rebel enclave of Eastern Ghouta near Damascus. Hundreds have been killed and thousands forced from their homes by the ferocious assault in Ghouta, where Russian-backed forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad are battling to retake the last rebel enclave outside the capital. In Afrin, media correspondents saw Turkish forces and their Syrian allies in all areas of the city after they made a lightning advance inside on Sunday. Rebels fanned out across the city, givin...
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