Gendarmerie and Police Special Forces teams enter Afrin countryside for residential operations
Turkey’s Gendarmerie and Police Special Forces entered the countryside of Syria’s Afrin on Thursday. The teams have started to engage in residential operations.
The Gendarmerie and Police Special Forces, who have joint operational capability, were deployed at bases formed in the region. When necessary, the teams will conduct explosive destruction and search activities, particularly in residential areas as they are cleared of terror elements as part of Operation Olive Branch.
The teams are also on watch against night infiltration attempts of terrorist groups. The Gendarmerie and Police Special Forces have night vision binoculars and weapons to assist in their 24/7 duty.
Security sources have said that the Gendarmerie and Police Special Forces, who are stationed close to towns in Jinderes and Rajo, which are still under PYD/PKK occupation, may also play a significant role in operations being conducted in the Afrin city center.
Both police and gendarmerie special forces had gained significant experiences of urban warfare during the counter-terrorism operations in southeastern Turkish cities of Silopi, Cizre, Idil, Yuksekova, Nusaybin and Sirnak in 2016.
The inclusion of the special forces into the Operation Olive Branch will accelerate the Turkish troops advance into the Afrin city center,
A total of 2,222 YPG/PKK-Daesh terrorists have been neutralized since the launch of Operation Olive Branch in Syria's northwestern Afrin region, the Turkish General Staff said in a statement on Thursday.
Operation Olive Branch was initiated on Jan. 20 in Afrin to establish security and stability, eliminate PKK/KCK/PYD-YPG and Daesh terrorists, and save locals from their oppression and cruelty.
Afrin has been a major hideout for the PYD/PKK since July 2012, when the Assad regime in Syria left the city to the terror group without putting up a fight.
