Turkey denies bombing Afrin’s hospital
It is ‘vile propaganda’ by the YPG, says Turkish military.
The Turkish military has released aerial footage that shows an undamaged Afrin hospital building, refuting claims of hospital damage as a smear campaign by YPG militia in Afrin.
The YPG and Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor said a Turkish air raid hit Afrin town’s main hospital on Friday night, killing 16 people.
“Reports of a hospital bombing in Afrin by the Turkish Armed Forces are false,” the military said in a statement posted on its Twitter account.
“It is closely being monitored that vile propaganda against the Turkish Armed Forces is being spread, falsely claiming that buildings and vehicles were set ablaze by the Turkish military. In reality, it was being carried out by terrorists in Afrin city centre,” the statement said.
The video footage of Afrin Hospital on 17 March 2018 at 09. 43 am. pic.twitter.com/Ht1X9hIVLv
— TSK (@TSKGnkur) March 17, 2018
UN alarm
A spokeswoman for the UN human rights office said it had “deeply alarming reports” of civilians killed and wounded in Afrin, “due to air strikes and ground-based strikes.”
She also decried “reports that civilians are being prevented from leaving Afrin city by Kurdish forces … [and] are being held to be used as human shields.”
Turkish-led forces launched an air and ground offensive on the Kurdish-majority region on January 20.
According to the Turkish General Staff, the operation aims to establish security and stability along Turkey’s borders and the region.
The Turkish military maintains that “utmost care” is being taken to avoid harming civilians.