Turkish-backed SNA on alert in Syria’s Afrin
AFRIN, Syria (North Press) – Neighborhoods in the city of Afrin in northern Aleppo witnessed on Tuesday a state of military alert by the military police faction, affiliated with Turkey, following order to pursue members of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS, formerly al-Nusra front).
Exclusive sources told North Press that the military alert status came after orders by the Levant Front (Jabhat al-Shamiya), a faction of the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army (SNA), to the command of the military police, Ahmad Kabso, to search for members of the HTS in the city.
The military police deployed its forces in the neighborhoods of al-Vilat, al-Ashrafiyeh, and Mazout Street and inspected cars in the city.
On February 22, Turkish forces installed a checkpoint on the Azaz-Afrin road, in northwest Syria, amid military mobilization between Turkish-backed factions and a group affiliated with HTS.
Afrin and its countryside have been under the occupation of the Turkish forces and the SNA factions since March 2018 following the so-called “Olive Branch” military operation that was launched allegedly to push away the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) under the pretext of protecting “Turkish national security.”
The operation caused the displacement of about 300.000 of the original inhabitants of the Kurds of Afrin who have been taking shelter in 42 villages and five camps in Aleppo northern countryside, locally known as Shahba Region, since then.