Turkish artillery shelling Syria's northwest Kurdish areas

AFRIN, Syrian Kurdistan (Kurdistan24) – Dozens were injured on Wednesday when Turkish artillery shelled the outskirts of Syria’s northwestern Kurdish city of Afrin.  

Redur Xelil, the spokesperson of the Syrian Kurdish Peoples’ Protection Units (YPG), published the news on his social media account.

Several villages on the border with Turkey were bombed by the Turkish army, according to Xelil.

He added about 10 civilians were injured during the shelling.

“The Turkish army shelling is continuing,” the YPG spokesperson said.

Regarding the Kurdish response to the bombardment, Xelil noted the forces would only act in self-defense.

“Any response by our forces in this region comes as self-defense,” he stated.

The Turkish army has shelled the Afrin area several times since the breakout of the Syrian civil war in 2011.

Syria’s Kurdish-held areas in the northeast, namely Jazeera and Kobani, and Afrin in the northwest of the country have been split into areas controlled by Turkey-backed Syrian rebels.

Afrin, which is controlled by the Kurdish YPG forces, is currently under siege.

The area is separated from other Syrian Kurdish areas by the Islamic State (IS) and al-Qaeda-affiliate Nusra from the east, the Syrian Army from the south, and the blocked Turkish borders from the north and west.

However, about three weeks ago, the Syrian Army opened a new road between the country’s west government-held areas and the northeast Kurdish areas.

By opening the link between the Kurdish areas and the Syrian Army, Afrin would no longer be surrounded.

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany