File image
Several militants of the Turkish-backed Sham Legion were killed or injured in an attack on one of the group’s positions in the town of Fafirtin in the occupied area of Afrin, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) revealed on July 25.
“Six [militants], including a commander, were killed and three other personnel were injured,” the SOHR’s report reads.
The Afrin Liberation Forces (ALF) claimed responsibility for Fafirtin’s attack, which took place on July 23. The Kurdish guerilla group identified the slain Sham Legion commander as Yasin Ibrahim.
In early 2018, the Sham Legion participated in the Turkish-led operation which led to the occupation of Afrin. Later, the group joined the so-called National Front for Liberation (NFL), a close ally of Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS).
Click to see the full-size image
Like most Turkish-backed groups, the Sham Legion suffered from sizable losses in Afrin over the last year in attacks carried out by the ALF and similar Kurdish groups.
propaganda
Did you lose another 6 brothers ?, Good.
still propaganda nothing more
More the better!
SAA has been reduced to defense-react action, and nothing else. Terrorists are becoming stronger, more sophisticated, having better weapons thanks to Turkey (NATO member). All of this is just to please Turkey on Idlib, and you know who is pleasing Turkey on Idlib.
Nicely put, but where is the relevance vis a vis Afrin. You might as well have said Paris is a nice city. True but also irrelevant.
The attack shows increasing strength of ALF and other kurdish forces. Now not only sniper attacks and assassinations, but on defended static positions in population centers. YPG is building expertise and strategies for a potentially coming incursion in NES, where Turkey can expect a large and hostile countryside. It will be a combination of more traditional fighting near the front lines and guerilla warfare behind the lines. Once a hundred kms deep into Syria, airsupport will become dubious, artillery support too and supply lines will be attacked, while guerilla warfare will bind many holding forces.
Whether by design or by chance, the SAA and Russia, as well as the independent Kurds not associated with the SDF, have all stepped up operations against the Turkish proxies, and in some instance even against Turkish regular forces themselves, and it’s all just by chance?, a lucky coincidence most of us would believe. But I don’t think it’s a lucky coincidence at all, I think the independent Kurds and the SAA are now working together, and I think they’re both trying to undermine Erdogan’s ability to establish any sense of normality or security in any of the regions he’s holding, and also keeping Erdogan’s forces equally divided and facing two seperate fronts, and even more importantly, potentially facing off against both the US and Russia if things went bad in either areas. It may be that both parties, both the SAA and the ALF are taking advantage of the situation independently and escalating hostilities for totally different and independent agendas, but I suspect there’s actually been some sort of secretive collusion between the Kurds and the SAA, that does have a common purpose and agenda, after all it’d be stupid of them both if they didn’t work together, “the enemy of my enemy is my friend”, at least until the war against them is won.