https://www.yenisafak.com/en/world/...ting-alongside-pkkpyd-killed-in-afrin-3137050
British terrorist fighting alongside PKK/PYD killed in Afrin
British national Anna Campbell, who was among the foreign terrorists fighting alongside the PKK/PYD in Syria, was revealed to have been killed on March 15 in Afrin
Editor/Internet
12:24 March 19, 2018
Yeni Şafak
British terrorist Anna Campbell
As the terrorist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) continues to sustain massive losses following Turkey’s Operation Olive Branch in Syria’s Afrin, a British terrorist fighting in the ranks of the all-female branch of the PKK’s Syrian offshoot, the YPJ, was reportedly killed by Turkish Armed Forces and Free Syrian Army (FSA) fighters in the northwestern Syrian region.
British national Anna Campbell, who was among the foreign terrorists fighting alongside the PKK/PYD in Syria, was revealed to have been killed on March 15 in Afrin, in the aftermath of Turkish shelling during Operation Olive Branch, according to a report by the BBC.
This makes Campbell the eighth British national killed while fighting alongside PKK terrorists.
Recently, American terrorist Jake Klipsch was also killed in Afrin while fighting for PKK/PYD terrorists.
00:00 dk
19 Mart 2018
Anadolu Agency
Drone footage captures Afrin town center after TAF, FSA take control
A video shot by a drone of Turkish Armed Forces shows Turkish Armed Forces and Free Syrian Army (FSA) taking complete control of northwestern Syria's Afrin within the "Operation Olive Branch" on March 18, 2018.
Turkish Armed Forces and Free Syrian Army took control of the Afrin town center early on Sunday as part of Operation Olive Branch, which was launched on Jan. 20 to clear the area of YPG/PKK-Daesh terrorists.
The Afrin town center is now under total control of Turkish and FSA in its north, east and western regions.
The town center Mabatli was also liberated from terrorists by the Turkish troops.
Afrin has been a major hideout for the PYD/PKK since July 2012, when the Assad regime in Syria left the city to the terror group without putting up a fight.
The PKK is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the European Union and the United States. The PKK has been conducting armed violence in the southeastern part of Turkey since 1984. More than 40,000 people, mostly civilians, have been killed in the three-decade long conflict.
Turkey brings peace to Afrin with Olive Branch op
As with the Euphrates Shield operation before it, Turkey has once again brought peace to Syria’s Afrin by displaying the utmost care not to harm any innocent civilians during Operation Olive Branch, which managed to rescue residents in the northwestern Syrian region after they were used as human shields by the U.S., Assad and Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) terrorists.US, Assad, PKK destroy citiesOperations Euphrates Shield and Olive Branch managed to clear entire cities from terrorist elements and restored peace and security in the process, whereas iconic urban centers such as Aleppo, Idlib, Raqqa and Eastern Ghouta where leveled to the ground by the invading U.S., Assad and PKK terrorists.Galeri: Turkish agency distributes aid in Syria's AfrinTurkey makes Afrin habitable againIn the wide-ranging Euphrates Shield Operation launched in August 2016, the Free Syrian Army -- with the support of the Turkish army -- had cleared 2,000 square kilometers (772 square miles) of land along the Turkish-Syrian border of terrorist elements, including the cities of Jarabulus and al-Bab, which were undamaged, enabling 150,000 Syrian refugees to return home. Turkey constructed schools and hospitals in the area which helped increase the region’s population by nine-fold.Video: Turkish agency distributes humanitarian aid to Afrin residentsAfrin’s turn to receive Turkish aid The care shown by Turkey during the Afrin operation has set a world standard in how military campaigns should be carried out, by minimizing civilian casualties despite PKK/PYD terrorists using innocents as human shields. After the region was cleared from terrorists, Turkish civil organizations began distributing humanitarian aid to Afrin residents who began to return to their towns and villages. Nine new camps are being set up in the region by the Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency of Turkey (AFAD), which, when complete, will house 170,000 Afrin residents.Video: Bomb planted by PKK kills 11 in Syria’s AfrinThe Turkish Armed Forces and Free Syrian Army took control of the Afrin town center early on Sunday as part of Operation Olive Branch, which was launched on Jan. 20 to clear the area of YPG/PKK-Daesh terrorists.The Afrin town center is now under total control of Turkish and FSA in its north, east and western regions.The town center Mabatli was also liberated from terrorists by the Turkish troops.Turkey's IHH sends aid to terror cleared Afrin villageBomb blast in Syria's Afrin kills seven civilians, four FSA soldiersAccording to the Turkish General Staff, the operation has aimed to establish security and stability along Turkey’s borders and the region as well as to protect Syrians from terrorist oppression and cruelty.The operation is being carried out under the framework of Turkey's rights based on international law, UN Security Council resolutions, its self-defense rights under the UN charter, and respect for Syria's territorial integrity, it said.The military also said only terror targets are being destroyed and that "utmost care" is being taken to avoid harming civilians.
Turkey's IHH sends aid to terror cleared Afrin village
Turkey's Humanitarian Relief Foundation (IHH) is sending aid to families in a village in Afrin, Syria in the wake of its liberation from terrorists during Turkey’s ongoing Operation Olive Branch.The IHH distributed food aid, childcare packages, bread, and personal care kits to civilians living in the village of Kawkabah, near Afrin’s center, which was liberated on March 11.Selim Tosun, the foundation's media adviser, told Anadolu Agency that during the aid distribution, the agency noticed an urgent need for medicine and medical support in the region.“After our volunteer doctors examine the villagers, we will provide medical support,” he added.Tosun said the IHH will continue to deliver humanitarian aid to civilians living in regions liberated from YPG/PKK terrorists during Operation Olive Branch.Video: Turkish agency distributes humanitarian aid to Afrin residentsTurkey on Jan. 20 launched Operation Olive Branch to remove PYD/PKK and Daesh terrorists from Afrin.According to the Turkish General Staff, Operation Olive Branch has aimed to establish security and stability along Turkey's borders and the region as well as protect Syrians from terrorist cruelty and oppression.The operation is being carried out under the framework of Turkey’s rights based on international law, UN Security Council resolutions, its self-defense rights under the UN charter, and respect for Syria's territorial integrity, it said.The military has also said that only terrorist targets are being destroyed and the "utmost care" is being taken to avoid harming any civilians.Turkish-backed troops liberated the town of Afrin, the region’s center, early on Sunday.
Turkish Embassy in Denmark attacked with Molotov cocktail
The Turkish Embassy in the Danish capital Copenhagen was attacked by four people with Molotov cocktails early Monday, according to a police official.Torben Madsen from the Copenhagen police told reporters that the police had noticed the attack while patrolling the area at around 2.55 a.m. local time (0155GMT).Madsen said a number of police officers were sent to the area, adding that the police officer who spotted the incident was focused on extinguishing the fire rather than catching the fleeing attackers.Madsen said nothing about who the attackers might be, but said nobody got hurt though the building was damaged.Video: Turkish Embassy attacked with Molotov cocktails in CopenhagenAttacks on Turkish buildings in Europe intensified after Turkey launched Operation Olive Branch on Jan. 20 to remove the PYD/PKK and Daesh terrorists from Afrin, northwestern Syria.Turkish-backed troops liberated the town of Afrin, the region’s center, early on Sunday.Muslims pray out in open in Berlin after mosque attackGermany’s Muslims urge solidarity after mosque attacks
Syrian regime targets E. Ghouta with gas: White Helmets
1
Civilian deaths continue to mount amid ongoing attacks on opposition-held parts of besieged Damascus suburb
https://www.washingtonpost.com/worl...b51e028b845_story.html?utm_term=.cdc84458aca9
The Latest: British woman killed fighting with Syrian Kurds
By Associated Press March 19 at 9:02 AM
BEIRUT — The Latest on the conflict in Syria (all times local):
2:05 p.m.
Syria’s Kurdish militia says a British woman who had joined their ranks to fight in the northern town of Afrin has been killed in a Turkish airstrike.
Nisrin Abdullah, spokeswoman of the Kurdish female militia known as YPJ, said on Monday that Anna Campbell was killed last Thursday.
She is the first foreign national to die in the battle for Afrin. She is also the first British female fighter and the eighth Briton to die fighting alongside the Kurdish militia in Syria. The Press Association says Campbell was 26 years old from Lewes, East Sussex.
This undated photo provided by The Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) a Syrian Kurdish militia, shows Anna Campbell, 26, a British citizen who was a fighter with the Kurdish female militia known as YPJ, who was killed March 15, 2018 by a Turkish airstrike in Afrin, north Syria. (YPG Syrian Kurdish militia via AP) (Associated Press)
Macer Gifford, a Briton who travelled with Campbell, said they arrived last May to eastern Syria, where they joined the U.S-backed Kurdish militia to fight against Islamic State militants. Gifford returned home after the fall of the city of Raqqa last summer.
Gifford told The Associated Press via Twitter that Campbell, an animal rights activist, “was a lovely girl. Very opinionated and determined.”
He also says: “She loved the YPJ and the last I saw of her was her leaving to join them.”
___
1:50 p.m.
Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdag says Turkey does not aim to invade the Syrian town of Afrin and will hand it over to “its real owners.”
Bozdag made the comments on Monday, a day after Turkish troops and Ankara-allied Syrian opposition forces captured Afrin.
The town was taken nearly two month after Turkey launched its offensive to clear Afrin and surrounding districts of a Syrian Kurdish militia that Ankara considers to be a “terrorist” group, allied with Turkey’s outlawed Kurdish rebels.
Bozdag says” ‘’We are not invaders. The aim of our offensive is to clear the region of terror.”
He says the Syrian Kurdish forces retreated from Afrin because “they were afraid ... you see this very clearly when you look at ammunition and weapons that they left behind.”
He says the Kurdish fighters had left booby traps and other explosives inside Afrin.
___
1:35 p.m.
The European Union has slapped sanctions on a senior Syrian military officer and three scientists accused of links to the development and use of chemical weapons against civilians.
EU headquarters said on Monday that the four work at the Scientific Studies and Research Center, a Syrian government agency the EU says produces chemical weapons and missiles to deliver them.
The center has been under EU sanctions since Dec. 2011.
The move brings to 261 the number of people targeted by an EU travel ban and asset freeze over the crackdown on Syrian civilians and support for the government of President Bashar Assad or associating with certain government officials.
A further 67 entities — often companies, agencies and organizations — have had their assets frozen.
___
12:40 p.m.
A senior Syrian Kurdish official says Turkey’s offensive on the Syrian town of Afrin is an “occupation” that endangers the rest of northern Syria.
Aldar Khalil, a leading Kurdish official, on Monday condemned Turkey for the assault and for raising the Turkey’s flag in a Syrian town.
He says Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is seeking to spread his influence in Syria as a way of restoring the Ottoman empire’s former influence.
He says: “The whole of northern Syria is in danger.”
Turkish troops and Syrian opposition fighters allied with Ankara captured Afrin on Sunday, nearly two months after Turkey began its offensive on the enclave.
Erdogan, who first launched military operations in Syria in 2016, has repeatedly said Turkey will not allow a “terror corridor” along its border and has vowed to push eastward in Syria after Afrin, to prevent the Kurdish militia from linking up territories it controls in eastern and western Syria.
___
9:50 a.m.
The European Union’s top diplomat is criticizing Turkey over its military offensive in a northern Syrian town and is calling on Ankara to ensure that fighting eases in the conflict-torn country.
EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini says: “I am worried about this.”
Mogherini told reporters in Brussels on Monday that international efforts in Syria are supposed to be “aiming at de-escalating the military activities and not escalating them.”
She urged Turkey, Russia and Iran to guarantee that conflict “de-escalation zones” are established as promised, to “guarantee that that is what happens on the ground.”
Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced on Sunday the capture of the town of Afrin, previously controlled by the Kurdish militia known as the People’s Defense Units, or YPG.
___
9:40 a.m.
Turkey’s state-run news agency says a booby trap bomb reportedly left by Syrian Kurdish fighters in the northern Syrian town of Afrin has killed 11 people — seven civilians and four Turkish-backed fighters.
Anadolu Agency says the explosion occurred late on Sunday in a four-story building that Turkish-backed Syrian opposition forces were clearing for explosives.
Turkish troops and Syrian opposition fighters allied with Ankara marched into Afrin on Sunday, nearly two months after Turkey began its offensive on the enclave to drive out a Syrian Kurdish militia. Ankara considers the militia an extension of its own insurgency.
Kurdish officials and a war monitor say some pockets of resistance remain in the town of Afrin but the Kurdish militia, known as YPG, has largely withdrawn.
___
9:20 a.m.
A Syria war monitoring group says Turkish-allied militiamen are looting the northern Syrian town of Afrin after the Turkish military and allied Syrian fighters seized control of it.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Monday the looting began on Sunday, after the Turkish and allied Syrian forces marched into the town center and raised their flags there — nearly two months after the offensive on the Kurdish enclave started.
The troops faced little resistance from the Kurdish militia, which withdrew, vowing a “new phase” of guerrilla tactics against Turkish troops and their allied fighters.
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The Observatory, which monitors Syria’s war through a network of activists on the ground, described extensive looting of shops, homes and cars in Afrin.
It’s unclear what Turkey plans after the capture of Afrin.
Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
British terrorist fighting alongside PKK/PYD killed in Afrin
British national Anna Campbell, who was among the foreign terrorists fighting alongside the PKK/PYD in Syria, was revealed to have been killed on March 15 in Afrin
12:24 March 19, 2018
Yeni Şafak
British terrorist Anna Campbell
As the terrorist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) continues to sustain massive losses following Turkey’s Operation Olive Branch in Syria’s Afrin, a British terrorist fighting in the ranks of the all-female branch of the PKK’s Syrian offshoot, the YPJ, was reportedly killed by Turkish Armed Forces and Free Syrian Army (FSA) fighters in the northwestern Syrian region.
British national Anna Campbell, who was among the foreign terrorists fighting alongside the PKK/PYD in Syria, was revealed to have been killed on March 15 in Afrin, in the aftermath of Turkish shelling during Operation Olive Branch, according to a report by the BBC.
This makes Campbell the eighth British national killed while fighting alongside PKK terrorists.
Recently, American terrorist Jake Klipsch was also killed in Afrin while fighting for PKK/PYD terrorists.
00:00 dk
19 Mart 2018
Anadolu Agency
Drone footage captures Afrin town center after TAF, FSA take control
A video shot by a drone of Turkish Armed Forces shows Turkish Armed Forces and Free Syrian Army (FSA) taking complete control of northwestern Syria's Afrin within the "Operation Olive Branch" on March 18, 2018.
Turkish Armed Forces and Free Syrian Army took control of the Afrin town center early on Sunday as part of Operation Olive Branch, which was launched on Jan. 20 to clear the area of YPG/PKK-Daesh terrorists.
The Afrin town center is now under total control of Turkish and FSA in its north, east and western regions.
The town center Mabatli was also liberated from terrorists by the Turkish troops.
Afrin has been a major hideout for the PYD/PKK since July 2012, when the Assad regime in Syria left the city to the terror group without putting up a fight.
The PKK is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the European Union and the United States. The PKK has been conducting armed violence in the southeastern part of Turkey since 1984. More than 40,000 people, mostly civilians, have been killed in the three-decade long conflict.
Turkey brings peace to Afrin with Olive Branch op
As with the Euphrates Shield operation before it, Turkey has once again brought peace to Syria’s Afrin by displaying the utmost care not to harm any innocent civilians during Operation Olive Branch, which managed to rescue residents in the northwestern Syrian region after they were used as human shields by the U.S., Assad and Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) terrorists.US, Assad, PKK destroy citiesOperations Euphrates Shield and Olive Branch managed to clear entire cities from terrorist elements and restored peace and security in the process, whereas iconic urban centers such as Aleppo, Idlib, Raqqa and Eastern Ghouta where leveled to the ground by the invading U.S., Assad and PKK terrorists.Galeri: Turkish agency distributes aid in Syria's AfrinTurkey makes Afrin habitable againIn the wide-ranging Euphrates Shield Operation launched in August 2016, the Free Syrian Army -- with the support of the Turkish army -- had cleared 2,000 square kilometers (772 square miles) of land along the Turkish-Syrian border of terrorist elements, including the cities of Jarabulus and al-Bab, which were undamaged, enabling 150,000 Syrian refugees to return home. Turkey constructed schools and hospitals in the area which helped increase the region’s population by nine-fold.Video: Turkish agency distributes humanitarian aid to Afrin residentsAfrin’s turn to receive Turkish aid The care shown by Turkey during the Afrin operation has set a world standard in how military campaigns should be carried out, by minimizing civilian casualties despite PKK/PYD terrorists using innocents as human shields. After the region was cleared from terrorists, Turkish civil organizations began distributing humanitarian aid to Afrin residents who began to return to their towns and villages. Nine new camps are being set up in the region by the Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency of Turkey (AFAD), which, when complete, will house 170,000 Afrin residents.Video: Bomb planted by PKK kills 11 in Syria’s AfrinThe Turkish Armed Forces and Free Syrian Army took control of the Afrin town center early on Sunday as part of Operation Olive Branch, which was launched on Jan. 20 to clear the area of YPG/PKK-Daesh terrorists.The Afrin town center is now under total control of Turkish and FSA in its north, east and western regions.The town center Mabatli was also liberated from terrorists by the Turkish troops.Turkey's IHH sends aid to terror cleared Afrin villageBomb blast in Syria's Afrin kills seven civilians, four FSA soldiersAccording to the Turkish General Staff, the operation has aimed to establish security and stability along Turkey’s borders and the region as well as to protect Syrians from terrorist oppression and cruelty.The operation is being carried out under the framework of Turkey's rights based on international law, UN Security Council resolutions, its self-defense rights under the UN charter, and respect for Syria's territorial integrity, it said.The military also said only terror targets are being destroyed and that "utmost care" is being taken to avoid harming civilians.
Turkey's IHH sends aid to terror cleared Afrin village
Turkey's Humanitarian Relief Foundation (IHH) is sending aid to families in a village in Afrin, Syria in the wake of its liberation from terrorists during Turkey’s ongoing Operation Olive Branch.The IHH distributed food aid, childcare packages, bread, and personal care kits to civilians living in the village of Kawkabah, near Afrin’s center, which was liberated on March 11.Selim Tosun, the foundation's media adviser, told Anadolu Agency that during the aid distribution, the agency noticed an urgent need for medicine and medical support in the region.“After our volunteer doctors examine the villagers, we will provide medical support,” he added.Tosun said the IHH will continue to deliver humanitarian aid to civilians living in regions liberated from YPG/PKK terrorists during Operation Olive Branch.Video: Turkish agency distributes humanitarian aid to Afrin residentsTurkey on Jan. 20 launched Operation Olive Branch to remove PYD/PKK and Daesh terrorists from Afrin.According to the Turkish General Staff, Operation Olive Branch has aimed to establish security and stability along Turkey's borders and the region as well as protect Syrians from terrorist cruelty and oppression.The operation is being carried out under the framework of Turkey’s rights based on international law, UN Security Council resolutions, its self-defense rights under the UN charter, and respect for Syria's territorial integrity, it said.The military has also said that only terrorist targets are being destroyed and the "utmost care" is being taken to avoid harming any civilians.Turkish-backed troops liberated the town of Afrin, the region’s center, early on Sunday.
Turkish Embassy in Denmark attacked with Molotov cocktail
The Turkish Embassy in the Danish capital Copenhagen was attacked by four people with Molotov cocktails early Monday, according to a police official.Torben Madsen from the Copenhagen police told reporters that the police had noticed the attack while patrolling the area at around 2.55 a.m. local time (0155GMT).Madsen said a number of police officers were sent to the area, adding that the police officer who spotted the incident was focused on extinguishing the fire rather than catching the fleeing attackers.Madsen said nothing about who the attackers might be, but said nobody got hurt though the building was damaged.Video: Turkish Embassy attacked with Molotov cocktails in CopenhagenAttacks on Turkish buildings in Europe intensified after Turkey launched Operation Olive Branch on Jan. 20 to remove the PYD/PKK and Daesh terrorists from Afrin, northwestern Syria.Turkish-backed troops liberated the town of Afrin, the region’s center, early on Sunday.Muslims pray out in open in Berlin after mosque attackGermany’s Muslims urge solidarity after mosque attacks
- Afrin
- Foreign
- Terrorist
- PKK
- PYD
Syrian regime targets E. Ghouta with gas: White Helmets
1
Civilian deaths continue to mount amid ongoing attacks on opposition-held parts of besieged Damascus suburb
https://www.washingtonpost.com/worl...b51e028b845_story.html?utm_term=.cdc84458aca9
The Latest: British woman killed fighting with Syrian Kurds
By Associated Press March 19 at 9:02 AM
BEIRUT — The Latest on the conflict in Syria (all times local):
2:05 p.m.
Syria’s Kurdish militia says a British woman who had joined their ranks to fight in the northern town of Afrin has been killed in a Turkish airstrike.
Nisrin Abdullah, spokeswoman of the Kurdish female militia known as YPJ, said on Monday that Anna Campbell was killed last Thursday.
She is the first foreign national to die in the battle for Afrin. She is also the first British female fighter and the eighth Briton to die fighting alongside the Kurdish militia in Syria. The Press Association says Campbell was 26 years old from Lewes, East Sussex.
Macer Gifford, a Briton who travelled with Campbell, said they arrived last May to eastern Syria, where they joined the U.S-backed Kurdish militia to fight against Islamic State militants. Gifford returned home after the fall of the city of Raqqa last summer.
Gifford told The Associated Press via Twitter that Campbell, an animal rights activist, “was a lovely girl. Very opinionated and determined.”
He also says: “She loved the YPJ and the last I saw of her was her leaving to join them.”
___
1:50 p.m.
Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdag says Turkey does not aim to invade the Syrian town of Afrin and will hand it over to “its real owners.”
Bozdag made the comments on Monday, a day after Turkish troops and Ankara-allied Syrian opposition forces captured Afrin.
The town was taken nearly two month after Turkey launched its offensive to clear Afrin and surrounding districts of a Syrian Kurdish militia that Ankara considers to be a “terrorist” group, allied with Turkey’s outlawed Kurdish rebels.
Bozdag says” ‘’We are not invaders. The aim of our offensive is to clear the region of terror.”
He says the Syrian Kurdish forces retreated from Afrin because “they were afraid ... you see this very clearly when you look at ammunition and weapons that they left behind.”
He says the Kurdish fighters had left booby traps and other explosives inside Afrin.
___
1:35 p.m.
The European Union has slapped sanctions on a senior Syrian military officer and three scientists accused of links to the development and use of chemical weapons against civilians.
EU headquarters said on Monday that the four work at the Scientific Studies and Research Center, a Syrian government agency the EU says produces chemical weapons and missiles to deliver them.
The center has been under EU sanctions since Dec. 2011.
The move brings to 261 the number of people targeted by an EU travel ban and asset freeze over the crackdown on Syrian civilians and support for the government of President Bashar Assad or associating with certain government officials.
A further 67 entities — often companies, agencies and organizations — have had their assets frozen.
___
12:40 p.m.
A senior Syrian Kurdish official says Turkey’s offensive on the Syrian town of Afrin is an “occupation” that endangers the rest of northern Syria.
Aldar Khalil, a leading Kurdish official, on Monday condemned Turkey for the assault and for raising the Turkey’s flag in a Syrian town.
He says Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is seeking to spread his influence in Syria as a way of restoring the Ottoman empire’s former influence.
He says: “The whole of northern Syria is in danger.”
Turkish troops and Syrian opposition fighters allied with Ankara captured Afrin on Sunday, nearly two months after Turkey began its offensive on the enclave.
Erdogan, who first launched military operations in Syria in 2016, has repeatedly said Turkey will not allow a “terror corridor” along its border and has vowed to push eastward in Syria after Afrin, to prevent the Kurdish militia from linking up territories it controls in eastern and western Syria.
___
9:50 a.m.
The European Union’s top diplomat is criticizing Turkey over its military offensive in a northern Syrian town and is calling on Ankara to ensure that fighting eases in the conflict-torn country.
EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini says: “I am worried about this.”
Mogherini told reporters in Brussels on Monday that international efforts in Syria are supposed to be “aiming at de-escalating the military activities and not escalating them.”
She urged Turkey, Russia and Iran to guarantee that conflict “de-escalation zones” are established as promised, to “guarantee that that is what happens on the ground.”
Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced on Sunday the capture of the town of Afrin, previously controlled by the Kurdish militia known as the People’s Defense Units, or YPG.
___
9:40 a.m.
Turkey’s state-run news agency says a booby trap bomb reportedly left by Syrian Kurdish fighters in the northern Syrian town of Afrin has killed 11 people — seven civilians and four Turkish-backed fighters.
Anadolu Agency says the explosion occurred late on Sunday in a four-story building that Turkish-backed Syrian opposition forces were clearing for explosives.
Turkish troops and Syrian opposition fighters allied with Ankara marched into Afrin on Sunday, nearly two months after Turkey began its offensive on the enclave to drive out a Syrian Kurdish militia. Ankara considers the militia an extension of its own insurgency.
Kurdish officials and a war monitor say some pockets of resistance remain in the town of Afrin but the Kurdish militia, known as YPG, has largely withdrawn.
___
9:20 a.m.
A Syria war monitoring group says Turkish-allied militiamen are looting the northern Syrian town of Afrin after the Turkish military and allied Syrian fighters seized control of it.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Monday the looting began on Sunday, after the Turkish and allied Syrian forces marched into the town center and raised their flags there — nearly two months after the offensive on the Kurdish enclave started.
The troops faced little resistance from the Kurdish militia, which withdrew, vowing a “new phase” of guerrilla tactics against Turkish troops and their allied fighters.
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Breaking news from around the world.
The Observatory, which monitors Syria’s war through a network of activists on the ground, described extensive looting of shops, homes and cars in Afrin.
It’s unclear what Turkey plans after the capture of Afrin.
Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
