Ankara [Turkey], Jan 21 (ANI): Turkish jets have bombed US-backed Kurdish militia in Syria`s Afrin province in a bid to oust the fighters.

On that note, Turkey wants to oust the Kurds, which it calls terrorists, from Afrin region that lies across its southern border.

According to CNN, the Turkish armed forces said that 108 out of 113 targets had been hit and that all of the dead and wounded brought to hospitals are Kurdish militia members.

Turkish military announced that it launched 'Operation Olive Branch' on Saturday at 1400 GMT. Syria decried Turkey's "aggression" and "brutal attack."

The attack came after a week of threats by the Turkish government, promising to clear the Kurdish People's Protection Units, or YPG, from Afrin and the surrounding countryside.

The YPG is the driving force behind a coalition of north Syrian forces allied with the US to fight Islamic State (IS).

The Turkish Prime Minister, Binali Yildirim, stated that the strikes on Afrin marked the start of a campaign to "eliminate the PYD and PKK and Daesh [Arabic acronym for IS] elements in Afrin", referring to the Kurdish Democratic Union Party and the Kurdistan Worker's Party respectively.(ANI)


This story has not been edited. It has been published as provided by ANI