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Russian air strikes killed 37 civilians in the Arbin area of the shrinking rebel enclave of Eastern Ghouta near Damascus overnight, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said yesterday.
Eastern Ghouta’s six-year rebel rule was in its dying moments as fighters evacuated one of the Syrian enclave’s three remaining pockets and a deal was reached for another.
35 members of the Estonian Defence Forces (EDF) will be deploying to Afghanistan in May, where they will serve in the framework of the NATO-led Operation Resolute Support.
“Estonia has decided to increase its contribution to NATO’s Operation Resolute Support in Afghanistan, and according to plan, an infantry platoon and logistics personnel will begin serving in Afghanistan this May,” EDF spokesperson Capt. Arvo Jõesalu told ERR.
Turkish troops, backed by air coverage, have been deployed in northern Iraq amid violent clashes with fighters of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), Arabs Today news website reported Monday.
“The forces are now stationed in the sub-district of Sidakan, northeast of the Kurdistan Region’s capital, and have already set up fixed barracks in the border triangle between Iraq, Syria and Turkey,” Krmanj Izzat, the mayor of Soran city, said.
Turkish military and allied Syrian forces marched into the center of the northern Syrian town of Afrin Sunday, raising their flags and shooting in the air in celebration nearly two months after launching their offensive on the Kurdish enclave. The advancing troops faced little resistance from the Kurdish militia that retreated and vowed to turn to guerrilla tactics.
Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced the capture of Afrin, previously controlled by the Kurdish militia known as the People’s Defense Units, or YPG.
Turkish forces say they have encircled the Kurdish city of Afrin in northwestern Syria, according to Turkey’s state-run Anadolu Agency, marking a major milestone in a military offensive that began in January.
Turkey, a NATO ally, launched an operation targeting Kurdish groups — some of them backed by the United States — in Afrin province to clear the border area of militias it considers to be terrorist organizations.