(MENAFN) Turkey's forces are close to concluding Operation Olive Branch in Syria's Afrin region, according to what Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan stated on Saturday.
He said: "The army has started to control the mountains and it is advancing on Afrin. It has little way to go."
Later on Saturday, Ankara announced that eight soldiers were killed in the operation against the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG).
While hundreds of civilian Syrians have been killed by Turkey's assaults, a military statement reported that one soldier was killed during clashes with the YPG, Syrian Democratic Forces and Islamic State in northern Syria, while the second was killed during shelling on the border region of Kilis in southern Turkey.
Turkey has continued to reinforce its positions on its border with Syria.
The military also dropped leaflets over Afrin, calling on the locals to unite against "terrorist" organizations, adding that the region will remain in the hands of its original residents.
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