TURKEY’S armed forces announced the capture of a strategically important mountain in the north-eastern corridor of Syria’s Afrin canton today.

The claim was echoed by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and, if true, represents an important advance by the invasion force in the second week of its offensive.

Jabal Barsaya separates the Kurdish-held enclave of Afrin from the Turkish-occupied town of Azaz and the mountain’s capture would give Ankara’s forces artillery-fire control over other areas of Afrin.