The Kurdish enclave of Afrin in northwestern Syria was taken over by Turkish forces and their Syrian opposition proxies in March this year.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said pro-Ankara Syrian opposition groups launched an assault on Sunday morning against the al-Sharqiya Martyrs, which had helped Turkey in the Afrin offensive.
The group, which is part of Ahrar Sharqiya brigade, is led by Abu Khula and consists of around 200 fighters. It has been accused of “disobeying” Turkish forces and allegedly “committing abuses”, the monitor said.
CNN Turk says Turkish armed forces “launched an operation against the group which has been conducting looting and robbery in Afrin.”
The channel said Turkish forces had “imposed a curfew in the region’s streets” on Saturday night to prevent bloodshed.
The operation was launched at dawn on Sunday, according to the ANF news agency.
The pro-YPG agency also reported that Turkish forces are targeting “mercenary” groups like Ahrar Sharqia and Hurras al-Din.
A group, known as Afrin Activists, shared a number of videos on its Twitter account, claiming heavy clashed between these forces. Rudaw English could not independently verify the images.
