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On January 25, an unnamed Turkish security source told the Turkish Anadolu Agency that seven fighters of the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) were captured by the Turkish Army during the ongoing “Operation Olive Branch” in the Afrin area. The source added that three of the seven captives were moved to the southern Turkish province of Hatay.
From its side, a representative of the YPG’s Staff in the Afrin area, Ahmed Shawki, claimed that the YPG had captured sixteen Turkish soldiers while repelling the Turkish attack on Afrin. However, the captives are likely members of the Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army (FSA), not the Turkish military.
In a related development, the YPG acknowledged that eighteen of its fighters have been killed by the Turkish Army in the Afrin area over the last few days. Earlier, Turkish officials claimed in an exaggerated statement that the Turkish Army has killed over 300 YPG fighters in Afrin so far.
Warplanes of the Turkish Air Force (TAF) continued conducting airstrikes against the YPG positions around the city of Afrin on January 25.
The YPG also shelled the southern Turkish city of Kilis with rockets on the night of January 24. Anadolu Agency reported that the YPG rockets hit a mosque in Kilis killing two Turkish civilians and injuring six others.
The Turkish military operation in the Afrin area slowed down in the last two days likely due to the bad weather in northern Syria nowadays.
