Field Report [12-18 March 2018]

12 March 2018

1. During the Olive Branch Operation OBO, the TAF (Turkish Armed Forces) and its FSA allies have taken control over 11 villages near the towns of Bülbül and Jinderes.

2. The Assad regime’s airforce has conducted 11 sorties on opposition-controlled territories near Dara after a halt of 8 months.

3. The Assad regime’s bombardment of Eastern Ghouta continued.

4. The International Coalition is alleged to have targeted Daesh-held positions to the east of Deyr ez Zor, near Hecin.

13 March 2018

1. During the OBO, the TAF and its FSA allies have taken control over a lot of villages and strategic hills and have continued their march towards the city of Afrin.

2. During the OBO, the TAF and its FSA allies have taken control over 3 villages near Sheikh Hadid, which lies to the west of Afrin.

3. Approximately 150 civilians are said to have been evacuated from Eastern Ghouta, overseen by the Assad regime.

4. 1055 people that have been evacuated by the Assad regime from Kadem, which lies to the south of Damascus, have reached Idlib, whereas 203 people are directed towards reaching Jarablus under the same deal.

14 March 2018

1. During the OBO, the TAF and its FSA allies have taken control over 10 villages as they march towards Afrin city.

2. Media sources close to the Assad regime claim that the TAF has killed 8 Iran-backed militants from the villages Nubl and Zahra after a bombardment.

3. During a sortie conducted by the Russian airforce on Eastern Ghouta, 12 militants from Faylaq al Rahman, including two leaders, have been killed.

4. In northern Hama, rebel groups have started an offensive against the Assad regime dubbed the “Anger for Eastern Ghouta”.

15 March 2018

1. During the OBO, the TAF and its FSA allies have taken control over 14 villages afer the operation’s momentum accelerated. Near the towns of Bülbül and Sheikh Hadid important progress has been made.

2. The Assad regime’s General Command claimed in an official statement that 70% of Eastern Ghouta had fallen into the hands of the Assad regime.

3. The Assad regime and allied militias took control over Eastern Ghouta’s Hammuriye district.

4. Omer Allush, the head of the Raqqa Civil Council’s Foreign Relations department, tied to the YPG, has been assassinated in his home in Tal Abyad.

16 March 2018

1. During the OBO, the TAF and its FSA allies have taken control over 14 more villages and two strategic hills solidifying the siege of Afrin city.

2. The Turkish Foreign Minister Çavuşoğlu and his Russian and Iranian counterparts held a meeting in Astana as part of the Astana diplomatic process.

3. The amount of people allegedly evacuated by the Assad regime from the district of Hammuriye in Eastern Ghouta has reached 20 thousand.

4. In the opposition-controlled Northern Homs area, the opposition announced the formation of the National Army’s Fourth Legion in the besieged enclave.

17 March 2018

1. During the OBO, the TAF and its FSA allies took control of 13 villages, completing the siege on Afrin city.

2. The Assad regime and its allied militias took control over the districts of Sakbe and Kafer Batna in Eastern Ghouta.

3. A TAF convoy has crossed the Turkish border into Idlib to settle near Anadan, to the west of Aleppo.

4. The Russian airforce has killed approximately 100 civilians in their air raids over Eastern Ghouta.

18 March 2018

1. On the 59^th day of the OBO, the TAF and its FSA allies have realized full control of Afrin city.

2. The TAF and its FSA allies have taken control of Maabetli town and all locations north of Afrin city from the YPG.

3. Since the start of the Olive Branch Operation, 3.603 terrorists have been neutralized.

4. A counteroffensive from many directions by the rebels in Eastern Ghouta has led to dozens of casualties among the ranks of the regime forces.

Over the course of the last week, the Olive Branch Operation, which started on January the 20^th 2018, has seen the TAF and its FSA allies take control over Afrin city center, dozens of its villages and strategic hills. The Afrin region has mostly been cleansed of the YPG. The YPG terrorists, after their defensive lines collapsed, chose to flee instead of defending the city of Afrin against the TAF and its FSA allies. The TAF have specifically refrained from harming urban areas and the loss of civilian lives and have accomplished this with great success. President Erdoğan in a statement disclosed that since the start of the OBO, 3.603 terrorists have been neutralized. As part of the ongoing Astana process, a TAF convoy is reported to have entered Idlib to settle near Anadan, western Aleppo. Another development this week has been the solidification of the Assad regime’s and its allied militias’ gains in Eastern Ghouta compared to the week before. Even though the rebels’ counteroffensive has dealt many casualties to the Assad regime’s and its allied militias’ ranks, their advance has not been stopped. Next to this, it has been claimed that the evacuation of nearly 20 thousand civilians from the area has been realized. The Northern Homs region, controlled by the opposition, has seen the foundation of the National Army’s 4^th Legion.