Turkish forces surround Afrin

Turkish troops and allied Syrian fighters encircled the Kurdish-held town of Afrin on Tuesday, marking a significant military gain since Ankara began Operation Olive Branch on 20 January, AP reported.

Turkey views the People's Protection Units (YPG) that hold the town as the Syrian arm of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), a group Ankara has been in armed conflict with for over three decades.

The US and Europe classify the PKK as a terror group, but the YPG has been an instrumental US partner in the fight against the Islamic State.

Ankara's siege of Afrin began on Monday, after the military took control of "critical areas" in the region.

A passage out of Afrin remained partially open, with thousands reportedly fleeing the town to nearby regime-controlled areas, according to footage by Syria's Al-Ikhbariya. 

Panic spread in the town as Turkish forces approached, and some residents were reportedly fired on when trying to evacuate. 

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he hopes Turkish forces will completely encircle Afrin by Wednesday evening. 

Col. Moataz Raslan, commander of one of the Turkey-allied opposition groups, said that it was Kurdish fighters who were preventing civilians from leaving and firing on those who do.

A Turkish aid later clarified Erdogan's remarks, saying: "In the president's speech the sentence 'I hope that Afrin will have completely fallen by the evening' should be understood as 'the encirclement will have been completed by the evening".

Outside Afrin, pro-regime Syrian forces on Wednesday shelled Turkish positions in Marea, north of Aleppo, in response to an earlier Turkish air strike that left five fighters dead.

The Syrian regime has sided with the YPG against Turkey's offensive in northern Syria. 

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