The Afrin Liberation Forces (HRE) claimed responsibility for a series of actions against Turkish jihadist occupation forces in north-western Syria on October 16. HRE stated that the actions, in which seven Turkish-backed mercenaries were killed and another six injured, were retaliation for Turkey’s massive wave of attacks against the autonomous region of northern and eastern Syria and its population.

According to the HRE, two of the actions were directed against the same group of occupiers in the Afrin region, which has been occupied since 2018. According to the HRE statement on Tuesday, the mercenaries were targeted in an area between the villages of Birc Heyder and Kefer Nabo. An initial fire resulted in the death of two of the jihadists. As the occupiers approached the area, they were targeted a second time. This left four more mercenaries dead and three others injured. HRE also reported that four motorbikes were destroyed in the course of the actions.

In the town of Mare, which borders Tel Rifat and is part of Aleppo, HRE also took action against occupation troops yesterday. Two sniper actions left one mercenary dead and one other injured.

In the city of Jarablus, which like Al-Bab, Azaz and Rai was handed over to Turkey by ISIS in 2016, a senior member of the jihadist militia “Sultan Murat Brigade”, which is also under Turkish command, was killed, according to the HRE statement.

The “Sultan Murat Brigade” belongs to the so-called Syrian National Army (SNA) – a coalition of reactionary, Islamist and fundamentalist militias that is paid, equipped and trained by Ankara and, as a proxy force of Turkey, helps maintain the occupation of parts of northern and northwestern Syria.

The HRE was founded in 2018 after the occupation of Afrin by Turkey. The resistance group fights with the aim of liberating the region and retaliating against the occupiers’ continued attacks.