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On March 10, the Turkish Army and the Free Syrian Army (FSA) continued their advance around the city of Afrin and captured the towns and villages of Qastel Kisk, Qurah Tibah and al-Khalidiah, according to sources linked to the FSA.
#Afrin artık gözle görülüyor.#ZeytinDalıHarekatı?? pic.twitter.com/2Pb0AOZBKS
— Hüseyin Bozan (@huseyinbozan) March 10, 2018
The Turkish Army and its proxies also captured the villages of Kafr Zayta, Ka’n Kurk, Zalqah, Khuraybah, Tallaf and al-Shiekh Abd al-Rahman in Jandaris district west of Afrin. In the district of Bulbul north of Afrin, the Turkish Army captured the villages of Dubayrah, Khader Tahtani, Khader Fuqani and Sulqli.
Thus, units of the Turkish Army are now deployed only 12km away from reaching the new positions of their counterparts south of Afrin. Should they do it, Afrin and dozens of villages north and northwest of it will be fully encircled by the Turkish Army and its proxies.
Meanwhile, the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) press announced that YPG fighters had repelled a large attack on their positions around al-Khalidiah village east of Afrin. YPG fighters reportedly killed 18 Turkish Army soldiers and FSA fighters and destroyed a vehicle belonging to the Turkish Army.
The YPG defensive operations around Afrin are currently limited to such minor clashes. This indicates that YPG units are now mostly preparing for urban clashes in Afrin, which will erupt when Turkish forces besiege the city.
The FSA advance in the Jandaris district:
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