Turkish Army Sustains Heavy Toll in Kurdish Offensive in Afrin

The Kurdish-language Hawar news reported on Thursday that the so-called 'Afrin Liberation Forces' targeted two armored vehicles of the Turkish army in the village of Qatmeh in Shara region in Afrin on April 30, killing 7 Turkish soldiers, wounding 5 others and destroying their vehicles.

It added that another group of Turkish soldiers were trapped and engaged in clashes with the Kurds in regions near Qatmeh, noting that 6 Turkish military men were wounded.

Also, 2 Turkish military commanders were killed and 3 others were severely wounded in operations launched by 'Afrin Liberation Forces' against a Turkish army vehicle on the road linking Shara region to the town of A'azaz in Northwestern Aleppo.

Reports from Afrin and A'azaz regions in Northern Aleppo said that heavy clashes had erupted between the Kurdish fighters and the Turkish army and its affiliated militants in the past two days, adding that the Turkish army has pounded the Kurdish positions in Northern Aleppo with artillery fire.

Relevant reports last Friday said that the Kurdish fighters had penetrated into the military positions of the Ankara-backed militants after fierce clashes between the two sides in al-Bab region in Northeastern Aleppo, sources said.

The Kurdish fighters attacked the militants who are allies to the Turkish Army from al-Daghbash axis near the village of Abaleh West of al-Bab city in Northeastern Aleppo, sources affiliated to the Turkey-backed militants said.

The sources pointed to the penetration of Kurdish fighters into one of their military points in Abaleh village, and said that at least five Turkish Army soldiers were killed and several others were wounded in the Kurdish attack.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), meantime, pointed to very fierce clashes between Kurdish fighters and Ankara-backed militants in Northeastern Aleppo, and said that both sides sustained casualties in the clashes.

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