- Title: Syrian rebels return to Turkey after fighting in northern Syria
- Date: 21st January 2018
- Summary: HASSA, TURKEY (JANUARY 21, 2018) (REUTERS) FREE SYRIAN ARMY (FSA) FIGHTER ON BACK OF A GUN-MOUNTED PICK-UP TRUCK DRIVING BY PICK-UP TRUCK CARRYING FSA FIGHTERS DRIVING BY / FIGHTER SHOWING THUMBS-UP VARIOUS OF FSA FIGHTERS AT BACK OF GUN MOUNTED PICK-UP TRUCK DRIVING BY PICK-UP TRUCK CARRYING FSA FIGHTERS DRIVING BY / FIGHTER WAVING TURKISH FLAG FSA FIGHTERS AT BACK OF GUN MOUNTED PICK-UP TRUCK DRIVING BY / FIGHTERS CHANTING ALLAHU AKBAR (GOD IS GREAT) FSA FIGHTERS AT BACK OF GUN MOUNTED PICK-UP TRUCKS DRIVING BY TRUCK CARRYING BULLDOZER DRIVING ON ROAD VARIOUS OF PICK-UP TRUCK CARRYING FSA FIGHTERS DRIVING BY FSA FIGHTERS AT BACK OF GUN MOUNTED PICK-UP TRUCK DRIVING BY AMBULANCE AND PICK-UP TRUCKS CARRYING FSA FIGHTERS DRIVING BY VARIOUS OF FSA FIGHTERS AT BACK OF GUN-MOUNTED PICK-UP TRUCK DRIVING BY VARIOUS OF PICK-UP TRUCK CARRYING FSA FIGHTERS DRIVING PAST
- Embargoed: 4th February 2018 17:04
- Keywords: Syria tanks air strikes Turkey YPG Afrin military operation PYD convoy Free Syrian Army
- Location: HASSA, TURKEY / UNKNOWN PLACE, SYRIA
- City: HASSA, TURKEY / UNKNOWN PLACE, SYRIA
- Country: Turkey
- Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace,Military Conflicts
- Reuters ID: LVA0027Z21F0N
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:Free Syrian Army (FSA) rebels who have joined the Turkish military operation in northern Syria travelled back to Turkey on Sunday (January 21) after fighting in northern Syria's Afrin region.
Around 25,000 FSA rebels are joining the Turkish military operation in northern Syria with the goal of recapturing Arab towns and villages seized by the YPG Kurdish militia almost two years ago, a rebel commander said on Sunday.
The Syrian-Kurdish YPG militia, supported by the United States but seen as a terrorist organisation by Turkey, said it had repulsed the Turkish forces and their allies after fierce clashes.
Turkey opened a new front in the nearly seven-year-old Syrian war on Saturday (January 20) when, under what Ankara has called "Operation Olive Branch", Turkish artillery and air strikes pounded YPG positions in Afrin.
Turkey sees the YPG as an extension of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) which has carried out a deadly, three-decade insurgency in Turkey's mainly Kurdish southeast. The United States is backing the YPG in Syria, seeing it as an effective partner in the fight against Islamic State. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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