Turkish forces carried out air strikes on Friday evening at the Syrian city of Afrin, which was controlled by the YPG. According to the Syrian-Kurdish militia, the only large hospital is bombed. Nine people have been killed as a result. The mortar bombardments also continued.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights confirmed the report and said that the death toll has risen to 27 in the last 24 hours, including seven children. That can be up to you given the number of seriously injured. Earlier in the day, the Turkish army had distributed pamphlets with the promise to protect civilians who want to flee the city.
A doctor in the affected hospital informed the German news agency DPA via WhatsApp that at least sixteen fatalities were to be regretted. “Citizens are attacked even in hospitals, and Afrin is shot at random with thousands of shells,” said Dr. Joan Schitika.
Turkey denies that civilian targets have been bombarded during the offensive in the Afrin region, which began in January. The Erdogan government sees the YPG as a Syrian extension of the banned Kurdish workers’ party PKK.