Turkey’s disaster response agency aids Syrians in Afrin

AFRIN, Syria

Turkey’s Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) distributed food packages to 3,000 people in Afrin, northwestern Syria, the agency said on Wednesday.

AFAD distributed some 485 food packages containing sugar, flour, oil and legumes in the Akanli, Carkanli, Saltah, and Meydanki villages.

Turkey on Jan. 20, 2018 launched Operation Olive Branch to remove YPG/PKK and Daesh terrorists from Afrin.

On March 18, Turkish troops and Free Syrian Army members liberated Afrin, on the 58th day of the operation.

Syria has been locked in a vicious civil war since early 2011, when the Assad regime cracked down on pro-democracy protests, leading to open warfare in several parts of the country with heavily-armed opposition groups.

While UN officials say hundreds of thousands of people have been killed in the conflict, regime officials say the number is closer to 10,000.

* Writing by Busra Nur Bilgic