SYRIA
Iran confronts Turkey in Syria’s Afrin region
February 21, 2018 - In a further escalation of Syria’s complex civil war, Iranian-backed pro-government militia have entered the north-western Afrin region to help Kurdish fighters repel a Turkish military offensive.
The pro-government Syrian daily Al-Watan said that some 500 fighters from the so-called Popular Forces have entered the Afrin region since February 20.
Turkey launched the military operations on January 20 to uproot the main Kurdish militia known as the YPG, from Afrin. It says the group is linked to a Kurdish insurgency inside its own borders.