'Unidentified aircraft target Syrian opposition in Afrin'

By Ethem Emre Ozcan

ANKARA/AFRIN (AA) - Five airstrikes were carried out by unidentified aircraft on the military headquarters of Al-Sham Legion in Syria's Afrin province, the opposition alliance Syrian National Army said on Tuesday.

In a statement via Al Mohrar Media, the legion claimed that a Russian fighter jet carried out the attacks in the town of Bassouta, south of Afrin.

There were no casualties because the group's members were out for training purposes, it added.

Afrin was largely cleared of YPG/PKK terrorists in 2018 by Turkey's anti-terror offensive Operation Olive Branch, but the terror group still targets the region to disrupt the peace established by Turkish forces.

It is one of the three successful anti-terror operations that Turkey has launched since 2016 across its border in northern Syria to prevent the formation of a terror corridor and enable the peaceful settlement of residents. The other two are Euphrates Shield (2016) and Peace Spring (2019).

*Writing by Dilara Hamit in Ankara