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Photos: After Afrin, Turkey vows to push military campaign along entire Syrian border

A day after Turkish-led forces entered the city of Afrin and neighbouring regions pushing out the Kurdish People’s Protection Units after an eight-month long offensive, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said that the fight will now be taken to other Kurdish areas along northern Syria. In Afrin, YPG could do little when Syrian Arab fighters backed by NATO’s second-largest army thrust into the city. They have vowed to now wage a guerrilla war against the Turkish forces.

Updated on: Mar 20, 2018 12:13 PM IST

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Syrian people arrive at a check point in the village of Anab ahead of crossing to the Turkish-backed Syrian rebels side. Turkish forces and their Syrian rebel allies swept into the northwestern Syrian town of Afrin, raising their flags in the town centre and declaring full control on Sunday after an eight-week campaign to drive out Kurdish YPG forces. More than 200,000 people have fled Afrin in recent days as reported by the Syrian Observatory. (Bulent Kilic / AFP)

Updated on Mar 20, 2018 12:13 PM

Syrian people arrive at a check point in the village of Anab ahead of crossing to the Turkish-backed Syrian rebels side. Turkish forces and their Syrian rebel allies swept into the northwestern Syrian town of Afrin, raising their flags in the town centre and declaring full control on Sunday after an eight-week campaign to drive out Kurdish YPG forces. More than 200,000 people have fled Afrin in recent days as reported by the Syrian Observatory. (Bulent Kilic / AFP)

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Smoke billows on the horizon near the Syrian Kurdish town of Afrin. Turkey launched the operation, code-named Olive Branch, against the town and surrounding areas on January 20, slowly squeezing the militia and hundreds of thousands of civilians into the town center to retake the enclave of Afrin from the YPG, which Ankara considers to be a “terrorist” offshoot of its own outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). (AFP)

Updated on Mar 20, 2018 12:13 PM

Smoke billows on the horizon near the Syrian Kurdish town of Afrin. Turkey launched the operation, code-named Olive Branch, against the town and surrounding areas on January 20, slowly squeezing the militia and hundreds of thousands of civilians into the town center to retake the enclave of Afrin from the YPG, which Ankara considers to be a “terrorist” offshoot of its own outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). (AFP)

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A Turkish-backed Syrian rebel drives past a burning shop in Afrin. Turkey’s seizure of the town in northern Syria is a significant military achievement for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan that gives him control over a large chunk of Syrian territory but also entrenches his troops as an occupying force in a crowded terrain packed with adversaries. (Bulent Kilic / AFP)

Updated on Mar 20, 2018 12:13 PM

A Turkish-backed Syrian rebel drives past a burning shop in Afrin. Turkey’s seizure of the town in northern Syria is a significant military achievement for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan that gives him control over a large chunk of Syrian territory but also entrenches his troops as an occupying force in a crowded terrain packed with adversaries. (Bulent Kilic / AFP)

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Turkey-backed Free Syrian Army soldiers celebrate around a statue of Kawa, a mythology figure in Kurdish culture as they prepare to destroy it in Afrin’s city center. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor has reported looting, saying Turkey’s Syrian allies “have begun pillaging private property, political and military sites and shops.” (Hasan Kırmızitaş / AP)

Updated on Mar 20, 2018 12:13 PM

Turkey-backed Free Syrian Army soldiers celebrate around a statue of Kawa, a mythology figure in Kurdish culture as they prepare to destroy it in Afrin’s city center. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor has reported looting, saying Turkey’s Syrian allies “have begun pillaging private property, political and military sites and shops.” (Hasan Kırmızitaş / AP)

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A woman mourns next to a coffin during the funeral of People’s Protection Units (YPG) fighters in Qamishli. The withdrawing Kurdish forces framed their exit as a move to prevent more civilian suffering. However, up against a foe with heavier firepower and a modern airforce, and with no foreign backer of their own, the Kurds faced a formidable battle to defend Afrin. The YPG forces have vowed to wage a guerrilla war against the Turkish military. (Delil Souleiman / AFP)

Updated on Mar 20, 2018 12:13 PM

A woman mourns next to a coffin during the funeral of People’s Protection Units (YPG) fighters in Qamishli. The withdrawing Kurdish forces framed their exit as a move to prevent more civilian suffering. However, up against a foe with heavier firepower and a modern airforce, and with no foreign backer of their own, the Kurds faced a formidable battle to defend Afrin. The YPG forces have vowed to wage a guerrilla war against the Turkish military. (Delil Souleiman / AFP)

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Kurdish demonstrators protest against the deployment of Turkish forces in Afrin. Syria’s conflict--started seven years ago, when President Assad’s forces cracked down on peaceful protests demanding regime change -- has killed at least 350,000 people and displaced more than half of the pre-war population of 20 million. According to UN, two thirds of 323,000 residents had fled the wider Afrin region since the start of Turkey’s campaign. (Rodi Said / REUTERS)

Updated on Mar 20, 2018 12:13 PM

Kurdish demonstrators protest against the deployment of Turkish forces in Afrin. Syria’s conflict--started seven years ago, when President Assad’s forces cracked down on peaceful protests demanding regime change -- has killed at least 350,000 people and displaced more than half of the pre-war population of 20 million. According to UN, two thirds of 323,000 residents had fled the wider Afrin region since the start of Turkey’s campaign. (Rodi Said / REUTERS)

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A poster showing Turkish President Erdogan is seen in front of riot police as they stand in front of the Russian embassy in Cyprus. Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdag said on Monday that Turkey did not aim to invade the Syrian town of Afrin and that it would hand it over to “its real owners.” Bozdag said, “We are not invaders. The aim of our offensive is to clear the region of terror.” (Petros Karadjias / AP)

Updated on Mar 20, 2018 12:13 PM

A poster showing Turkish President Erdogan is seen in front of riot police as they stand in front of the Russian embassy in Cyprus. Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdag said on Monday that Turkey did not aim to invade the Syrian town of Afrin and that it would hand it over to “its real owners.” Bozdag said, “We are not invaders. The aim of our offensive is to clear the region of terror.” (Petros Karadjias / AP)

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In Afrin, tens of thousands of civilians have fled as Turkish troops encircled the city but left a corridor open to the south. Men, women, and children crossed the front by foot along a dirt road, staggering under the weight of bags and suitcases, footage on state TV showed. Many carried infants on their shoulders or pushed them in strollers. Some elderly people hobbled on wooden sticks. (Bulent Kilic / AFP)

Updated on Mar 20, 2018 12:13 PM

In Afrin, tens of thousands of civilians have fled as Turkish troops encircled the city but left a corridor open to the south. Men, women, and children crossed the front by foot along a dirt road, staggering under the weight of bags and suitcases, footage on state TV showed. Many carried infants on their shoulders or pushed them in strollers. Some elderly people hobbled on wooden sticks. (Bulent Kilic / AFP)

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Syrian people arrive at a check point with livestock in the village of Anab. Many of those fleeing were Kurdish families who feared that they would not be allowed to return and that Arab families would be moved into their neighbourhoods in a campaign orchestrated by Ankara to permanently drive Kurdish militant groups from Turkey. (Bulent Kilic / AFP)

Updated on Mar 20, 2018 12:13 PM

Syrian people arrive at a check point with livestock in the village of Anab. Many of those fleeing were Kurdish families who feared that they would not be allowed to return and that Arab families would be moved into their neighbourhoods in a campaign orchestrated by Ankara to permanently drive Kurdish militant groups from Turkey. (Bulent Kilic / AFP)

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A Turkish-backed Syrian rebel raises a dagger in Afrin. After seizing control, Erdogan said Turkey would also target a region stretching nearly 400 km east of the northern Syrian town of Qamishli. However, expansion of the campaign into the much larger Kurdish-held territory east also risks confronting US troops, deployed alongside a YPG-dominated force in northern Syria. (Bulent Kilic / AFP)

Updated on Mar 20, 2018 12:13 PM

A Turkish-backed Syrian rebel raises a dagger in Afrin. After seizing control, Erdogan said Turkey would also target a region stretching nearly 400 km east of the northern Syrian town of Qamishli. However, expansion of the campaign into the much larger Kurdish-held territory east also risks confronting US troops, deployed alongside a YPG-dominated force in northern Syria. (Bulent Kilic / AFP)

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