Turkish troops and allies say they besieged Syria's Afrin
Turkish troops and allied opposition fighters have begun a siege of the Syrian Kurdish-held northern town of Afrin, the Turkish military said Tuesday.
The military said in a brief statement that the siege of Afrin, the main town in the enclave of the same name, had begun Monday. It said the military had taken control of "critical areas" of the town but did not provide details.
Thousands of people had started to flee Afrin on Monday as the Turkish troops got closer to the town, heading toward nearby government-controlled areas.
Turkey launched a military offensive into the border enclave on January 20 to drive out Syrian Kurdish forces that it considers to be "terrorists" and an extension of Kurdish rebels fighting inside Turkey.
