Afrin, Ankara launches the campaign to 'eliminate' the Syrian Kurds

The bombings until the late yesterday evening: the heaviest since Erdogan raised the alert level . A senior Turkish official went to Moscow to get approval to launch an area campaign. Damascus warns: we could take down your planes. 

Ankara (AsiaNews / Agencies) - The Turkish artillery opened fire in the Syrian region of Afrin, controlled by the Kurdish-Syrian YPG militia, in what Turkey calls the beginning of a military campaign against the Kurds in the area. Turkish defense minister, Canikli reiterates that Ankara is determined to destroy the Kurdish group: "All terrorist networks and elements in northern Syria will be eliminated. There is no other way ".

Yesterday morning, the Reuters agency reported the Turkish artillery opened fire from Sugedigi, a village on its side of the border. According to Kurdish sources, 70 bombs fell on Kurdish villages between midnight and morning. The explosions continued until late afternoon.

YPG spokesman Rojhat Roj, claims that it is the heaviest bombing since Ankara raised the alert level. At present, it seems that Turkish ground troops have not crossed the border. A direct attack on the Kurdish territories would open a new front in the civil war in Syria.

For days, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has been threatening Kurdish militia in the region in response to their growing strength and broad presence in the north of the country. On January 18, a senior Turkish official went to Moscow to get approval to launch an area campaign in the region. Damascus warns that it might decide to shoot down Turkish planes that cross the Syrian airspace.

• Turkey
• Syria
• Kurds
• military action
• YPJ
• militia