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On March 9, the Turkish Armed Forces (TAF) and the Free Syrian Army (FSA) advanced on positions of the Kudish People’s Protection Units (YPG) in the village of Kafr Safra north of the town of Jindires and the village of Maryamayn east of the YPG-held city of Afrin.
According to pro-Turkish sources, the YPG had already withdrawn from Kafr Safra. However, this still has to be confirmed. If Turkish forces establish control over Maryamayn, they will be able to use this settlement as a foothold for an attack on the Afrin city itself.
Separately, the FSA and the TAF entered the area of the Maydanki dam and reportedly established control over it. The Maydanki dam is one of the main sources of water to the city of Afrin. Controlling the Maydanki dam, Ankara and its proxies will be able to impact water supplies to the YPG-held area.
On March 9, the TAF’s general staff released a new statement claiming that 3,149 “terrorists” had been “neutralized” since the start of Operation Olive Branch in Afrin on January 20.
Meanwhile, reports once again started circulating that the YPG is once again negotiating a wide-scale deal with the Syrian-Iranian-Russian alliance. Under the alleged deal, the alliance will allegedly use its influence to halt the Turksih advance on Afrin. However, it is not clear with what terms the YPG is ready to agree for this goal.
Videos of the TAF and the FSA advances:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NYmmpn7-oXI
