Civilian casualties from clashes between Turkish-backed groups in Afrin, Syria

AFRIN, Syria (North Press) – A woman was killed and her child seriously injured due to clashes between two families associated with the Turkish-backed Jaysh al-Sharqiya armed group (which is part of the Turkish-backed opposition Syrian National Army) in the city of Afrin, north of Aleppo, on Wednesday.

Sources in the city told North Press that members of al-Sharqiya used machine guns and RPGs in the clashes, which resulted in the injury of many civilians and the death of a local woman, who died instantly when she was shot in the head. The woman's child also sustained critical injuries.

“The cause of the clashes was tension between members of the same group from the city of Mayadin,” the source said.

“The [opposition's] Military Police and al-Sharqiya intervened to de-escalate and take the weapons from both families after a state of horror and resentment prevailed among the residents.”

Four days ago, an IED exploded in a vehicle of a leader from the Sham Legion group, killing him and injuring 12 others, including 6 children.

Afrin has been controlled by Turkish-backed Syrian militias, often known as the Syrian National Army (SNA), since March 2018 when the Turkish army launched its cross-border offensive on the Afrin region claiming to target the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) which had been prominent in the area since 2012. Since this time, it has been subject to security chaos, with residents accusing militant groups of violations ranging from theft and kidnapping to rape and murder.