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More than 300 Turkish army men and Ankara-backed militants have been killed in clashes with the Kurdish fighters in Afrin region in Northwestern Aleppo in the last 4 days, a media outlet reported on Saturday.
The Kurdish-language Hawar news reported that at least 313 Turkish soldiers and Ankara-backed militants have been killed within the framework of Operation Olive Branch against the Kurdish militias in Jandaris region in the last 4 days.
Fifty-nine Turkish soldiers and 261 members of the pro-Turkey Free Syrian Army (FSA) have died in fighting in the Afrin region of Syria since hostilities began in January, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
The death toll rose from the 44 Turkish soldiers reported by the London-based organisation four days ago. Turkey had put the number at 41 on Friday.
Turkey’s prime minister said Saturday that Turkish troops have captured a strategic village in a Kurdish-held enclave in northwestern Syria, tightening its grip on Kurdish forces in the sixth week of its offensive on the area.
Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said the Kurdish Afrin district has been “surrounded” by the military, special police and paramilitary forces, as well as allied Syrian opposition fighters.
On Friday night, the militants used heavy artillery (122, 152-mm) to attack the Ukrainian Army in Donbass, according to the Ukrainian Army HQ.
“In Luhansk sector, at around 21:00, the enemy shelled the strongholds of Ukrainian soldiers in Donbass with Minsk-banned weapons - artillery of 122-mm calibre,” the report says.
Turkey warned on Monday it would confront Syrian government forces if they entered Syria’s northwestern Afrin region to help the Kurdish YPG militia repel a Turkish offensive.
Turkey began its Afrin operation with allied Syrian rebels last month against the YPG, which Ankara sees as a threat along its border with links to the Kurdish PKK insurgency at home.