Anadolu Agency reporters visit liberated Syrian village

By Sarp Ozer

JARABULUS (AA) - Anadolu Agency correspondents entered a village south of Syria’s Jarabulus on Monday, a day after it was liberated from PKK-affiliated PYD militants.

Amarne Village had been under control of the PYD, the PKK terror group's Syria offshoot; it was liberated by the Free Syrian Army (FSA), as part of Turkey’s military operation in Syria to clear terrorist elements along the country’s border.

According to an Anadolu Agency reporter in the village, FSA forces established checkpoints at entrances to the village and also searched houses in the area.

During the search, the FSA held four PYD/PKK terrorists, including two who illegally entered Syria from Turkey, according to an Anadolu Agency reporter at the scene. Out of the two suspects, one had allegedly participated in the violent Kobani protests in October 2014 in Turkey, which had left at least 30 people dead across the country.

So far, FSA forces have liberated 10 villages in Jarabulus region and three villages in al-Rai region, FSA commanders told Anadolu Agency on condition of anonymity.

On Wednesday, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the terrorist group Daesh had been forced to flee the northern Syrian city of Jarabulus following Turkey’s military operation.

The ongoing Euphrates Shield Operation saw the Turkish military back the Free Syrian Army with artillery, tanks, air power and special forces in taking Jarabulus, which lies to the west of the Euphrates River and around a kilometer (mile) to the south of the Turkish border. Aircraft from the anti-Daesh coalition also backed the operation.

The operation is in line with the country’s right to self-defense born out of international treaties and a mandate given to Turkey’s armed forces by the Turkish parliament in 2014, which was extended for another year in September 2015.