On March 1, fighters of the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) repelled an attack by the Turkish Army and its proxies from the Free Syrian Army (FSA) on their positions in the village of Blailek in the Rajo district northwest of the city of Afrin, according to the Kurdish Hawar News Agency (ANHA).
The ANHA said that YPG fighters had killed three servicemembers of the Turkish Police special forces and several Turkish Army soldiers.
The YPG press also announced that YPG fighters had destroyed two vehicles of the Turkish Army and its proxies with ATGMs in the villages of Ali Bakki and Kunda in the Rajo district.
The Turkish General Staff acknowledged in two separate statements that eight Turkish Army soldiers had been killed and thirteen others were injured during the clashes with the YPG in Afrin area on March 1.
In response to the YPG’s attacks, warplanes and attack helicopters of the Turkish Air Force (TAF) had targeted several position of the YPG and the pro-government National Defense Forces (NDF) in the northern and western parts of the Afrin area.
The Lebanese al-Mayadeen TV reported that the over 18 NDF fighters were killed and three others were injured in a TAF airstrike that targeted their positions in the Sharan district north of Afrin city. Syrian pro-government sources said that 19 other NDF fighters had gone missing after the airstrikes.
Earlier, the Turkish Army and its proxies were able to capture the villages of Ceinke, Haydar, Kharab Suluq Rajo district. The Turkish Anadolu Agency also revealed that Turkey had deployed special forces of the Turkish Police and Gendarmerie in the western part of Afrin to boost its operations there.