The Turkish-backed groups intensifying their shelling on Afrin countryside

Northern Aleppo – North-Press Agency

In the last 24 hours, the Turkish military and its affiliated armed opposition groups have intensified their shelling on areas in the south-eastern countryside of Afrin, following the bloody bombing by the Turkish military and those armed groups on Tal-Rifaat, in the northern Aleppo countryside yesterday afternoon.

This morning, the Turkish military and its affiliated armed groups targeted the villages of Oqeiba and Sughanah in Sherawa district, following shelling on Monday night on the villages of Maranaz, Shwargha and Sughanah, in both Sharra and Sherawa districts, in Afrin region, causing material damage.

This escalation comes in conjunction with the cautious calm in Tal Rifaat amid fears of a new targeting on the town, by Turkey-backed armed groups following the massacre of Tal-Rifaat, in which 10 people were killed, including 8 children, in addition to 13 other civilians were seriously injured.

Some days ago, North-Press reported that the village of Sughanah, southeast of Afrin was subjected to almost daily shelling for more than a year with artillery shells, fired by the Turkish military and its affiliated armed groups stationed in the village of Kimar near Afrin. The shelling caused the displacement of more than 150 families from the village, destroying many houses and injuring dozens of local residents, including several women and one child.

The village of Sughanah is less than 2 km away from the Turkish-held areas in Afrin region, hence it is the dividing line between Turkey and its affiliated armed groups on one hand, and the Syrian government forces on the other.