ARA News

AFRIN – Kurdish forces of the People’s Protection Units (YPG) reported Thursday new gains against the al-Qaeda-affiliated Nusra Front in Syria’s northern province of Aleppo.

Subsequent to clashes with Nusra militant fighters, the YPG advanced in the northwestern countryside of Aleppo and recaptured two villages in the Sherawa district of Afrin.

The Kurdish units regained control of the villages of Al-Ziyara and Khrebka, forcing al-Qaeda-linked militants of Nusra Front to evacuate their strongholds there on Thursday evening.

Speaking to ARA News in Afrin, YPG spokesman Rezan Heddo said that at least six Nusra militants were killed and five more were wounded in the clashes, adding that two Kurdish fighters lost their lives in the same clashes in Sherawa district. 

“When our forces entered the liberated villages after expelling the Nusra militants, the villagers have showen a full support to the YPG for liberating them from the suppression of the terror group,” Heddo said.

“The main objective for the YPG is to free people from the fist of those terrorists,” he said. “our operations will continue until liberating the entire region from radical groups like Nusra and ISIS.”

In the meantime, a special team from the YPG has started dismantling landmines and explosive devices left behind by Nusra militants in Al-Ziyara and Khrebka. 

Reporting by: Siman Jiwan 

Source: ARA News