Turkish artillery fire on the Kurdish-majority enclave of Afrin in northern Syria killed at least 18 civilians on Friday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and a Kurdish spokesman said, as Turkey’s military urged Kurdish fighters to surrender.
On January 20, Turkey and Syrian Arab rebel proxies launched an air and ground offensive on the Afrin region, which is controlled by the US-backed Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG).
"Since midnight (2200 GMT Thursday), 18 civilians, including five children, were killed by Turkish artillery fire on the city of Afrin," the Observatory said.
"There is fighting on the northern edge of the city," the Britain-based monitoring organization said.
Brusk Hasakeh, the YPG spokesman in Afrin, said the Turkish forces and their Syrian militia allies were trying to storm Afrin from the north. "They are shelling in order to storm (Afrin)," Hasakeh said by phone.
He said the YPG and its all-female affiliate, the YPJ, were waging battles with the attacking forces.
Ankara has consistently denied targeting civilian infrastructure but the Observatory said at least 245 civilians, including 41 children, have been killed in less than two months.
Turkish-led forces have nearly fully encircled the city of Afrin, with only one road left open for civilians to flee to areas controlled by the Syrian regime or the YPG.
The Observatory said on Thursday that more than 30,000 civilians had fled Afrin in 24 hours.
It said families left the town in buses and cars towards Nubl and al-Zahra, villages that are loyal to the regime of Bashar al-Assad.
The Turkish military said Friday it has dropped flyers in Arabic and Kurdish on Afrin, asking residents to stay away from "terrorist positions" and urging YPG fighters to surrender.
The leaflets say Afrin civilians wanting to leave would be "under the guarantee" of the Turkish military. They also call on locals not to allow themselves to be used as "human shields."
The leaflets urge the Syrian Kurdish fighters to "trust the hand we extend to you." They say: "Come surrender! A calm and peaceful future awaits you in Afrin."
