(MENAFN) While Turkish Army and Ankara-backed militants are advancing to the gates of the town of Afrin, the Syrian Arab army has forwarded its Special Forces to their positions near the Kurdish-held Afrin, the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported on Tuesday.

SOHR reported that Syria's Presidential Guards have been sent to Southern Idlib to further create a security belt around the town Shiite towns of Nubl and al-Zahra but other sources said that the newly arrived forces have imposed control over several regions in Southern Afrin.

The Turkish soldiers and their allied militants have tightened the grip on the Kurds from all directions and have deployed at Afrin's gates.

The Arabic-language Al Arabiya TV network quoted the London-based Syrian Observatory Human Rights (SOHR) as saying that a sum of 36 pro-Damascus popular forces were killed in Turkish airstrikes in the village of Kafr Jeneh in Afrin region.

Also, the Arabic-language website of RT reported that the Turkish fighter jets struck the village of Kora in Rajou region, killing at least 10 pro-Syrian popular forces and wounding several more.

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