page_title: Operation Olive Branch
section_title: Initial TFSA-Turkish advances
hierarchical_section_title: Operation Olive Branch / Afrin offensive / Initial TFSA-Turkish advances
caption_attribution_description: Türkçe: “Zeytin Dalı Harekatı" Afrin’deki hedefleri bombalanmasıyla başladı. Hatay’ın Reyhanlı ve Kırıkhan ilçeleri arasındaki sınır hattında 2. Ordu Komutanlığına bağlı birliklerden gelen çok sayıda tank ve zırhlı araç ikinci bir emre kadar yol boyunca bekletiliyor.
context_page_description: Operation Olive Branch was a cross-border military operation conducted by the Turkish Armed Forces and Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army in the majority-Kurdish Afrin District of northwest Syria. The air war and use of major artillery ended as the Arab and Turkmen militias of the TFSA entered the city of Afrin on 18 March 2018, and the insurgency phase began.
  By March 2018, pro-Shia news reported that the United Nations had counted 167,000 refugees in nearby camps; the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights later estimated that a total of 300,000 Kurdish people had been displaced. In the aftermath of the conflict, Turkish forces implemented a resettlement policy by moving refugees from Eastern Ghouta into the newly-empty homes. Many houses, farms, and other private property belonging to those that fled the conflict have been seized or looted by the TFSA. In a study of 24 key informants from Afrin, all reported loss of housing, land or property following Operation Olive Branch.
context_section_description: The Turkish government announced the start of the offensive on 19 January 2018, with Turkish Defence Minister Nurettin Canikli stating, "The operation has actually de facto started with cross-border shelling." He added no troops had crossed into Afrin. Turkey intensified its shelling later, while People's Protection Units (YPG) stated that 70 shells had been fired overnight. After days of shelling, Turkish fighter jets on 20 January 2018 carried out air strikes on the border district targeting positions held by the PYD and YPG groups.
  Turkish media reported that 20 buses carrying Turkish-backed Syrian opposition rebels had crossed into Syria through the Öncüpınar border crossing. An AFP photographer stated that 30 buses carrying Syrian fighters had also crossed through the Cilvegözü border crossing.
  On 20 January, the pro-PYD Hawar News Agency reported that fighters of the Army of Revolutionaries in the Shahba Canton inflicted damage to the ranks of the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army as they killed 4 SNA fighters, and wounded 5 others, in a response to the recent mortar and artillery bombardments of civilian areas. YPG forces fired rockets on Turkish border towns Kilis and Reyhanli, where at least one civilian was reported killed among number of wounded. Turkey announced that its airstrikes had hit 150 targets in Afrin.
  The Turkish General Staff made the announcement in a statement published on its website, saying the objective of the mission is to "establish security and stability on our borders and region, to eliminate terrorists of PKK/KCK/PYD-YPG and ISIL." On 21 January 2018, Turkish state media reported that Turkish ground forces had begun to move into Afrin. and had advanced up to 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) into the territory. SOHR reported that Turkish troops had clashed with Kurdish militias on the northern and western borders of Afrin and entered the towns of Shankil and Adah Manli to the west.
  By 22 January 2018, Turkish forces announced the capture of seven villages, although the YPG recaptured two. The same day, the first Turkish soldier was reported killed in the fighting. By 23 January, territorial gains of the pro-Turkish forces were still "limited". Both sides said to have inflicted numerous casualties on each other, including a high-ranking TFSA commander, amid the back-and-forth fighting for several strategic points at the border. Meanwhile, about 5,000 civilians had fled the Turkish advance in the contested areas, relocating into the central areas of Afrin Region.
  On 27 January, in the first case of a Kurdish suicide attack against Turkish forces, female Kurdish YPJ fighter Zuluh Hemo (a.k.a. "Avesta Habur") reportedly threw a grenade down the turret of a Turkish tank, destroying the tank and killing two Turkish soldiers and herself. The reported attack took place during fighting in the village of al-Hammam. The Turkish military denied that any Turkish soldiers had been killed or injured in the incident, and also said that Hemo blew herself up with a grenade in her mouth.
  On 28 January, pro-Turkish forces achieved their first major victory by capturing the strategic Barsaya mountain after several previous attacks on the mountain since 22 January failed due to Kurdish resistance. According to Kurdish reports, Kurdish fighters once again pushed back the Turkish-led forces from the mountain the following day, although Turkey disputed this, with Turkish commander Lt. Gen. İsmail Metin Temel, who was leading the operation, reportedly visiting Barsaya.
  At the start of February, some rebel factions fighting on behalf of the Turkish army reportedly withdrew from Afrin in order to fight the Syrian army.
  On 6 February, a convoy from the eastern parts of SDF-controlled Northern Syria carrying YPG as well as Yazidi YBŞ and YJÊ fighters passed through government-held territory and arrived in the city of Afrin after an agreement for the transfer was approved by Damascus. Their number was unclear, but estimates ranged from 500 to 5,000. There had been reports that the agreement, as well as a recent halt in Turkish a
caption: Tanks of the Turkish Land Forces on the road to Afrin.
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