Turkey dispatches remote-controlled armored work machines to Syria’s Afrin

Turkish Armed Forces (TAF) and Free Syrian Army (FSA) units are approaching Syria’s Afrin city center as part of Operation Olive Branch. As per the first stage of the operation, the troops united in the shape of a crescent, joining troops who entered from the Sakız Karakolu region with those who entered from Kilis and Hatay. The Turkey-Syria border line has been cleared of terrorists.

Habertürk daily reported that Turkey is continuing to prepare for the residential phase in which it is believed that intense clashes will break out in areas of settlements. In this regard, 43 heavy-duty work machines which can be controlled remotely were dispatched to the area. Afrin’s city center is described as a residential area.

“Forty-three remotely controlled and armored work machines are being used,” Turkey’s Undersecretariat for Defense Industries said.

Turkey’s Gendarmerie and Police Special Forces entered Syria’s Afrin via the Kilis Gülbaba and Hatay Hassa border on Monday to engage in residential operations.

The dispatched machines are to be used in both Turkey’s domestic and cross-border operations.

A total of 2,059 PYD/PKK and 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 Monday.

Operation Olive Branch was initiated on Jan. 20 in Afrin to establish security and stability, eliminate terrorists of PKK/KCK/PYD-YPG and Daesh, and save locals from the terrorists’ 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.