This map provides a general look at the military situation in the Syrian area of Afrin. The Turkish Armed Forces and the Free Syrian Army have been pushing towards the city of Afrin controlled by the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG). MORE DETAILS
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Notable progress. I am interested in one thing: will Afrin become next heavy battle or it will be captured in one day? Just asking.
Probably a heavy siege, the city will be under heavy bombardment from artillery, aircraft etc. special forces will enter next, might take up to a week after the siege starts? not sure
Its full of refugees.
IS defended the to to them hostile city of Raqqah and held it against superior forces for almost 5 months. SDF will have a supportive city and will have forces in the mountains near the city that turks will not be able to completely root out. In a week?
Dream on little partisan girl.
sdf will be not able to defend for 5 weeks. isis was always much, much stronger and better then kurdish gypsies.
Surely YPG will withdraw the city before Erdogan besiege it. Then FSA will enter Afrin city without difficulty.
Well, if they will do this, the massive amount of Kurdish troops would be encircled…
It depends of the evolution of the war. But, I don’t think that YPG will let them encircling in the city. They surely will withdraw before it happens.
Well, never say never.
On the other hand, when YPG did not even leave the barely defendable Kobane when IS had already taken 80% of that city, I see no reason for YPG/SDF to leave that city when the new IS has not even taken 0.01% of the city and in most places is over 10 miles from the city limits while massive reinforcements are on their way.
I think you are living in phantasy land.
Well it took the TAF/FSA three and a half months to take Al Bab, so I would rate the Kurds chances as fairly decent. As long as they protect their south-eastern flank they should be ok.
There was no Turkish infantry in Al Bab except bunch of special forces, also FSA couldnt fight efficiently. Moreover ISIS dogs were much more fierce than YPG could ever be. But this time is going to be different, Turks deployed their best and well trained units, most of them have had a lot of urban battle that I think no army has similar experience. It is going to be bloody nonetheless, it is urban battle after all, but in the end there is no doubt of the outcome
There were plenty of TAF regulars fighting in Al bab, hence the large number of Turkish tanks knocked out. In fact the FSA failed so hard they had to rely heavily on TAF units.
I dispute your claim about ISIS being fiercer fighters than the Kurds, as a large percentage of ISIS fighters are just cannon fodder fit only for suicide missions.
Kurds have fought Turks for decades and know their tactics. Plus the Turks are probably weaker now than they were a decade ago thanks to Erdogans military purges.
If Turkey attacks Afrin it’ll be a blood bath for all involved.
The real question is not the YPG but what happens when the Turkish mercs come up against the SAA and the Russians. My guess is that when Ghouta falls that the SAA will enter Afrin in force. The job of the YPG is to hold back the Turks until then. Regardless the Turks have only sent in rabble to seige Afrin – there is not way that the Turkish army will risk a bloody nose with a direct confrontation with Russia.
After ghouta yarmpuk, then daraa. then hama. idlib, aleppo as last.
Unless some unexpected political turn comes up, Afrin is lost. While there is resistance, the lack of adequate fire power makes it virtually impossible for the heroic resistance to stop Turkey and their allied gangs. All major (inter-)regional powers, Russia, the US and now Iran in the person of Rohani have paid their respect to mister genocide Erdogan. This leaves no doubt that they’re all very happy to have the self-administration in Afrin crushed, no matter what the civilian and humanitarian cost. These politicians sit in their comfy chairs, the value of life of ordinary people is nothing to them. The UN is a farce, doing nothing. Of course, the question is, what after Turkey has taken Afrin? Will they leave a garrison, and if so, for how long, how strong? Surely, the YPG is planning on coming back. Or will that part of Syria be handed over to the Asad regime? Unlikely. A sunni-conservative buffer state might be intended. As for Ghouta, it’s militarily sealed. The militants have lost. There is much talk about it simply to exploit it propagandistically.