The Turkish military and allied Syrian forces have taken "total" control of the town centre of Afrin, the target of an offensive against the Kurdish militia. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the Turkish flag and the flag of the Syrian opposition fighters have been raised in the town, previously controlled by the Kurdish militia known as the People's Defense Units, or YPG. A Turkish-backed FSA fighter gives an IS-like pose once inside #Afrin city after days of bombardment by the Turkish army. A Kurdish official, Hadia Yousef, said the YPG was still fighting inside the town, but had evacuated the remaining civilians because of "massacres". Syrian State TV on Sunday broadcast footage of a long line of vehicles and civilians on foot leaving Afrin.

Source: Irish Examiner March 18, 2018 12:56 UTC