AFRIN (Kurdistan 24) \u2013 At least 25 militants have been killed and dozens more wounded on Sunday in heavy clashes between Turkish-backed insurgent factions in the northwestern Syrian city of Afrin, a war monitor said.<\/p>\n
The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said fighting in several districts of Afrin erupted between the Olive Branch groups, backed by the Turkish army, and Shuhadaa Al-Sharqiya, whose fighters are mostly former al-Nusra and Ahrar al-Sham members.<\/p>\n
The clashes primarily occurred in the Mahmudiya and Villat neighborhoods, killing 14 fighters from Shuhadaa Al-Sharqiya and nine from the other groups, in addition to wounding 27, the SOHR claimed.<\/p>\n
Civilians and several Turkish soldiers were also killed in the clashes, the monitor said, without giving detailed numbers.<\/p>\n
Turkish troops stationed in the town imposed a curfew on civilians in an effort to prevent violence, the Observatory said.<\/p>\n
Violent clashes were accompanied by shelling of the headquarters of Shuhadaa Al-Sharqiya.<\/p>\n
The clashes halted for a short amount of time to allow residents to evacuate.<\/p>\n
The clashes caused material damage and sparked fires in several houses in the neighborhoods of Mahmudiya and Villat, and leading to further casualties on both sides.<\/p>\n
The firefights erupted over allegations of looting and theft in Afrin.<\/p>\n
Shuhadaa Al-Sharqiya, with some 200 fighters, has been accused of \u201cdisobeying\u201d Turkish forces and allegedly \u201ccommitting abuses\u201d in the city, the monitor said.<\/p>\n
ANF, a pro-Kurdish news agency, also reported that Turkish special forces teams stationed snipers across the city center and on the rooftops of several houses.<\/p>\n
The Syria-based pro-Kurdish ANHA news agency also reported, \u201cClashes between mercenaries and the Turkish occupation army have escalated since last amidst security chaos and tension between the people.\u201d<\/p>\n
ANHA also confirmed that a 10-year-old boy was injured by shrapnel from a shell that struck the Mahmudiya district as a result of the clashes.<\/p>\n
The boy was transferred to a local hospital in Afrin.<\/p>\n
Afrin used to be under the control of US-backed Syrian-Kurdish People\u2019s Protection Units (YPG), a key ally of the US-led coalition fighting the Islamic State (IS) group.<\/p>\n
On 20 January, Turkey launched an incursion into Afrin, dubbed Olive Branch Operation, on the grounds that the YPG is an offshoot of the Kurdistan Workers\u2019 Party (PKK) which it designates a \u201cterrorist\u201d organization for the latter\u2019s decades-long insurgency against Ankara over greater Kurdish rights.<\/p>\n
Turkish-backed militants fully seized the city on March 25, as the United Nations registered 167,000 refugees in nearby camps, while the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights later estimated that a total of 300,000 Kurdish people had been expelled.<\/p>\n
Editing by Nadia Riva<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
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