Civilians flee Afrin amid Turkish offensive

Civilians are fleeing Syria's Afrin for safety amid a Turkish forces offensive against Kurdish militia in northwest Syria continues.

In a video obtained by Reuters, people could be seen carrying their belongings in the back of trucks and tractors on Sunday and were said to be heading towards Zarah village and Ahlam mount.


Turkish forces have reached the outskirts of Afrin after a weeks-long campaign, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitoring group said on Saturday.

Ankara launched its offensive in the Afrin region on its border in January, aiming to drive out the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia, which it sees as an extension of the PKK group that has fought a three-decade insurgency inside Turkey.

Last month, pro-Syrian government armed groups entered Afrin region to back up the YPG, but their deployment did not deter Turkey despite the possibility of a wider escalation in the war, and it continued its campaign.

Afrin is separated from a much larger area held by Syrian Kurdish forces further east along the border with Turkey, including large swathes of land captured from Islamic State with support from the United States.

REUTERS