The Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim stated that the country’s warplanes have bombed YPG, PYD targets in the Syrian city of Afrin.
The senior Turkish official also declared that the Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army started a military advance in the territory of the Kurdish-populated Syrian city of Afrin.
“From this moment, the heroic Turkish Armed Forces have launched an air operation to destroy the PYD/PKK and Daesh elements in Afrin,” Yildirim announced.
The start of the advance has been confirmed by the country’s Armed Forces, which declared that operation”Olive Branch” was launched at 05:00 p.m. local time.
According to the Turkish Hurriyet newspaper, the country’s F-16 jets have conducted strikes on six targets in Afrin, adding that the Turkish Armed Forces have simultaneously launched artillery shelling from the Kilis province, bordering Syria.
The aircraft of the Turkish Armed Forces hit a Democratic Union Party (PYD) observation post in Syria’s northern district of Afrin, the Anadolu news agency reports.
The news comes after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan officially confirmed the de facto start of the operation in Syria’s Afrin earlier in the day, adding that the operation would be followed by Manbij, another Kurdish-controlled Syrian town.