Thousands flee Afrin as Turkish forces advance on the besieged town
A boy in silhouette holds a flag by a poster on the ground showing the Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during a protest against the Turkish offensive targeting Kurds in Afrin, Syria, outside of the US embassy in Nicosia, Cyprus
THOUSANDS of mainly Kurdish civilians have begun fleeing the Afrin region of north Aleppo as Turkish troops and Turkey-backed opposition fighters approach the besieged Syrian town of the same name.
Democratic Union Party (PYD) spokesman Ebrahim Ebrahim said that the fleeing Kurds are headed towards government-controlled areas.
Mr Ebrahim added that the Turkey-backed Free Syrian Army is composed of “extremist groups,” explaining that civilians were being forced to leave after Turkish troops destroyed water and power stations that supply the town of Afrin.
