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On March 9, the Turkish Army and its proxies from the Free Syrian Army continued their advance towards the city of Afrin and captured the key towns of Maryamayn and Inab, 6km east of the city, according to sources linked to the FSA. Currently, only one village, Qibar, is separating the Turkish Army from Afrin.
Earlier, the Turkish Army advanced in the districts of Shara and Bulbul north of Afrin and captured the villages of Sir’ayn and Kafr Mize along with Kachkadar Mount.
Meanwhile, Turkish sources reported that the pro-government National Defense Forces (NDF) had deployed more units to its positions in the Afrin area to support the Kurdish People’s Protections Units (YPG). However, these claims have not been confirmed yet by any Syrian pro-government sources.
Reports of the entry of regime forces into Afrin region.
Bazı rejim güçlerinin Afrin bölgesine girdiği iddia ediliyor.
Possible loc/ muhtemel konum:https://t.co/8VVdOmVJo2 pic.twitter.com/j4cCEfgMsl
— . (@op_shield) March 9, 2018
The Turkish Army will likely expand its control east, southeast and south of Afrin in the upcoming days in order to isolate the strategic city before storming it. On the other hand, the YPG appears to be incapable of launching any singificant counter-attack right now, even despite the recent reinforcements from the NDF and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
