MARSAWA, SYRIA -- Turkey's prime minister said Saturday that Turkish troops have captured a strategic village in the Kurdish-held enclave in northwestern Syria, tightening its grip on Kurdish militia in the sixth week of its offensive on the area.
Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said the Kurdish Afrin district has been "surrounded" by the military, special police and paramilitary forces, as well as allied Syrian opposition fighters.
"Afrin has been surrounded. We have cleared all areas near our borders of terror nests," he said at a rally in the central province of Konya, adding that Turkey would not cease its campaign against "terror."
Turkish troops and allied Syrian fighters have been attacking Afrin from the north, west and east and have formed a crescent around the district.
Turkey said it wants to oust the Syrian Kurdish People's Protection Units from Afrin. It considers the group a terrorist organization, an extension of a Kurdish insurgency within its own borders. Turkey said 41 of its soldiers have been killed since the operation began.
Associated Press journalists gained access to Afrin district for the first time Saturday on a tour organized by the Turkish government, visiting a small village recently cleared of the People's Protection Units.
Capt. Ahmed Taqtaq of the allied Syrian forces in Marsawa village said they seized control of three villages in the past 10 days, fighting some 50 Syrian Kurdish fighters. He said, "Since we were in elevated areas, it facilitated our advance toward these villages." Syrian fighters patrolled the village.
Turkey's Red Crescent and emergency agency distributed beds, blankets and food to some 20 families in Marsawa, where walls were tagged with the logos of the People's Protection Units and other Kurdish groups.
Farther south, Turkish soldiers kept watch with weapons at the ready in Bursayah Hill, captured in late January.
A Turkish flag now flutters above a former People's Protection Units watchtower.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors the Syria conflict through a network of activists, said fierce clashes were still ongoing in Rajo, in Afrin's northwest.
If confirmed, Rajo would be the largest center in Afrin to be captured since the Turkish offensive began on Jan. 20. Turkish borders run along Afrin's western and northern borders.
To the east lies a Syrian territory controlled by Turkey-backed Syrian opposition fighters. In the south, Syrian government forces control territory.
The offensive has heightened tensions between Turkey and its NATO ally, the United States, which backs the People's Protection Units fighting against Islamic State militants in eastern Syria. The U.S. has no troop presence in Afrin, but has said it fears the Turkish offensive could distract from the fight against the Islamic State in the east.
Complicating matters further, fighters loyal to Syria's government entered Afrin late last month to support the Syrian Kurdish militia, raising the specter of a possible confrontation between Turkish and pro-government Syrian troops.
Near the Syrian capital, Damascus, the government continued its offensive against eastern Ghouta, a rebel-held region, despite a Russian-ordered five-hour humanitarian pause. A U.N. 30-day cease-fire has failed to take hold.
Meanwhile, Syrian State TV said Saturday that two children escaped from the region under gunfire from the rebels, who control eastern Ghouta.
Syrian government and Russian officials accuse the rebels of firing at a corridor set up for evacuation, preventing civilians from leaving.
The corridor, manned by Russian military police and Syrian troops, has since Tuesday been set to open for five hours daily. An elderly Pakistani couple were allowed to leave after negotiations.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and the Syrian Civil Defense said six civilians were killed Saturday in government bombings in eastern Ghouta.
Information for this article was contributed by Sarah El Deeb and Zeynep Bilginsoy of The Associated Press.
A Section on 03/04/2018