Turkey launched a military operation in Syria

AFRIN, (Patria) - Turkish fighter jets bombed Kurdish positions in the Syrian city of Afrin, after the country's president Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced the start of a ground operation against Kurdish fighters in the area, Al Jazeera reports.

Erdogan previously stated that a military operation had begun in Afrin after the Turkish army carried out cross-border shelling.

- We will gradually destroy the terrorist corridor, as we did in the operations in Jarabulus and Al-Bab, starting from the west. The operation in Afrin has practically begun on the ground. The next is Manbij - Erdogan said.

Earlier, it was reported that the Turkish army had begun new artillery attacks on Kurdish militias in northern Syria, in anticipation of a ground invasion, AFP reported.

It was announced that this is a legitimate self-defense "whereby Kurdish forces use refugee camps in the Afrin region from which they attack Turkish territory".

Al Jazeera previously reported that Turkey had mobilized nearly 15,000 fighters from the Free Syrian Army east of Afrin.

- The situation in Afrin is heating up. Turkey is shelling Afrin more and more. This coincides with the rhetoric coming from Ankara in the last seven days - Al Jazeera correspondent reported from the scene.

Turkey considers the Afrin region to be controlled by the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has been declared a terrorist organization.

On Friday, Turkish forces shelled Syrian territory with artillery fire.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan threatened a ground operation that would also include members of the Syrian opposition supported by Ankara, with the aim of expelling Kurdish militias from that border area.

However, Kurdish militias were one of the main allies of the United States in the fight against the ISIL armed group in Syria.

The General Staff of the Turkish Army announced that the operation is named "Olive Branch".