MOSCOW (Sputnik) — On August 24, the Turkish army with the support of US-led coalition aircraft launched the Euphrates Shield operation to clear Jarablus and the surrounding area occupied by Daesh. The operation has been widely criticized both by the Syrian Kurds and Damascus accusing Ankara of violating Syria's territorial integrity.
Syria has been mired in civil war since 2011, with government forces loyal to President Bashar Assad fighting numerous opposition groups, as well as terrorist formations, such as Daesh, outlawed in many countries, including the United Kingdom and Russia among others.
The conflict has caused a major humanitarian crisis making millions of people to flee Syria. According to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) more than 2.7 million of them are currently in Turkey.
