Fighting in northwest Syria is in a tailspin, as Turkish forces shoot at fleeing civilians and mutilate US-backed forces

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February 6, 2018 2:16 AM

At least 20 videos have also surfaced showing YPG fighters targeting and, in some cases, destroying Turkish tanks.

Fighting between Turkish forces and US-backed SDF fighters in Syria's Afrin province is getting more dire.
Reports and videos have emerged of Turkish forces mutilating YPG fighters and shooting at fleeing civilians.
YPG fighters have also taken out multiple Turkish tanks and armored vehicles.

The fight between Turkish forces and US-backed SDF fighters in northwest Syria's Afrin province appears to be in a tailspin.

Turkish forces have reportedly killed more than a hundred civilians, mutilated US-backed SDF fighters, and even indiscriminately shot at displaced civilians attempting to flee into Turkey.

Ankara launched a massive ground and air campaign, codenamed "Olive Branch," against the US-backed SDF forces in Afrin on January 20 in response to the US's announcement that it would train and maintain a 30,000-strong, predominately Kurdish force in the region.

Turkey views the Kurdish YPG as a terrorist organization and an extension of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which has carried out a deadly, decades-long insurgency in Turkey's mainly Kurdish southeast.

But in the last two weeks, Turkish forces have made only limited gains in Afrin, as SDF fighters, including the YPG and all-women YPJ, appear to have put up rather stiff resistance.

At least 20 videos have surfaced showing YPG forces targeting, and in many instances destroying, invading Turkish tanks and armored vehicles with anti-tank guided missile systems. Freelance journalist Aris Roussinos compiled a Twitter thread of those videos here.

On Saturday, YPG fighters killed seven Turkish soldiers, including five in one attack on a tank, according to The Guardian.

SDF fighters have also responded with occasional rocket fire across the border into Turkey, according to The Washington Post. Last week, one of those attacks killed a teenage girl and wounded another civilian in the Turkish town of Reyhanli.

A YPJ spokeswoman told AFP that Kobani and three other female fighters were battling Turkish-backed forces, refused to withdraw, and "fought until death."

"I swear to God, we'll avenge you," Kobani's brother, 30-year-old Aref Mustafa Omar, cried out at her funeral on Saturday, AFP reported.

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