The Syrian army should take the main responsibility for the defense of Afrin against a Turkish invasion, the commander of the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia Sipan Hemo told Al-Mayadeen TV on Monday.
General Hemo urged Damascus to “immediately send in reinforcements to the border region with Turkey.”
“There is a great deal of coordination between YPG fighters and the Syrian military,” Hemo said.
According to the pan-Arabic newspaper Al-Hayat, Syrian Army checkpoints deployed west of Aleppo are letting through food, fuel and staples for the 1.5 million residents of Afrin.
Several Turkish tanks have been detroyed, a warplane and a drone shot down and 185 FSA fighters, including several field commanders, killed.
Turkish forces have lost 27 officers and enlisted men and 148 YPG fighters have also been killed.
According to Ankara, in three weeks of fighting Turkish forces and their allies have killed 1,369 “terrorists.”
The Turkish military launched Operation Olive Branch on January 20, against Kurdish YPG forces, which Ankara believes have links to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), outlawed in Turkey. Damascus has condemned the operation as “treacherous aggression” and an assault on the country’s sovereignty.
Russia, meanwhile, has urged all parties to exercise restraint, and called for the warring sides to respect Syria's territorial integrity.
READ MORE: 'Foxhunt': Life in Kurdish Afrin's Heartland Amid Turkish Operation Olive Branch
