Turkish troops 'getting close' to Afrin city: Erdoğan

BİTLİS

Turkish troops are getting closer to Syria's Afrin city center, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on Feb. 3.

Turkey's ongoing Operation Olive Branch in Afrin is now in its third week. 

Speaking at an ordinary congress of his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) in the eastern province of Bitlis, Erdoğan said: "We are advancing into Afrin [city center]. We are close."

Turkey launched Operation Olive Branch on Jan. 20 along with Free Syrian Army (FSA) to clear YPG and ISIL militants from Afrin, northwestern Syria.

A total of 932 militants have been “neutralized” since the beginning the operation, Deputy Prime Minister said in a televised interview on Feb. 4.

Since the start of the operation, the YPG has carried out cross-border attacks on Turkey by firing rockets on civilian neighborhoods, killing at least seven civilians and injuring 107 others including children.