“Our Armed Forces have hit 94 Daesh positions and 9 PYD positions. The Free Syrian Army [of Syrian opposition, FSA] liberated a settlement in the area of the city of Mari, the total area under its controls in the north of Syria amounts to 1,305 square kilometers [some 504 square miles]," the Turkish military said.
On August 24, Turkish forces, backed by US-led coalition aircraft, began a military operation dubbed Euphrates Shield to clear the Syrian border town of Jarabulus and the surrounding area of Daesh, outlawed in Russia and many other countries. As Jarabulus was retaken, the joint forces of Ankara, the coalition and Syrian rebels continued the offensive southwest.
Ankara considers PYD, and its military wing YPG (People's Protection Units) operating in Syria an affiliate of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which is outlawed in Turkey.
