Civilians Died in Turkish Aggression to the Syrian North

“By controlling Afrin city centre yesterday, we have passed the most important step of the Olive Branch operation”, Erdogan told a gathering of judges and prosecutors in Ankara.

“Today at 8:30 OU PAS, with the support of the Turkish Armed forces, entered the Afrin”.

He said Ms Campbell, who is no relation to him, was killed alongside two Kurdish women amid the air strikes.

A Turkish photographer on assignment for Agence France-Presse, who captured the chaotic scenes, told CNN that the looting was widespread and organized, adding that he saw hundreds of opposition fighters more focused on pillaging than celebrating their victory.

“The United States is deeply concerned over reports from Afrin city over the last 48 hours”, State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said in a statement Monday.

Kurdish-led militias, backed by the United States, are fighting another American ally, Turkey, which claims that the Y.P.G.is an extension of a Kurdish insurgent group, the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, also known as the P.K.K., that has been labeled a terrorist organization. Turkey views the Syrian Kurdish militiamen as terrorists due to their links to Kurdish insurgents fighting inside Turkey.

Ankara had requested the USA, beginning with former President Barack Obama, to withdraw the YPG from areas east of the Euphrates and Manbij, and to stop supporting the group militarily. Turkey, which has threatened to push deeper into Syria, said its operation was aimed at securing the north of the country to allow the three million Syrian refugees on its soil to return. The Observatory puts the number of casualties at over 280 civilians, adding that more than 1,500 Kurdish fighters have been killed since Jan.20.

At least two other foreign fighters have been killed in the Afrin assault, according to the YPG. “Our intention is not invade but to carry out operations to cleanse terrorists and eliminate terrorist threats to our country”, Erdoğan said at a ceremony held for newly appointed judges and prosecutors on March 19 in Ankara. “We will represent her in the entirety of our struggles”, she said.

Federica Mogherini said worldwide efforts in the war-savaged country are supposed to be aimed at “de-escalating the military activities and not escalating them”.

“She wanted to create a better world and she would do everything in her power to do that”, he said, describing his daughter as fiercely determined and idealistic.

The YPG has vowed to fight back to reclaim Afrin but their chances look slim and tens of thousands of residents who fled the city in recent days now find themselves in limbo.

The military has also said that only terrorist targets are being destroyed and “utmost care” is being taken to avoid harming any civilians.

“The destruction of the Kawa Haddad statue… and the looting of shops and homes is morally deplorable”, he said, referring to a monument to Kurdish hero Kawa Haddad, torn from its mantle on Sunday.