Centre of Syrian city seized - Turkey
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Reuters
Turkish-backed forces have taken full control of the centre of the Syrian-Kurdish city of Afrin, according to Turkey's president.
"Units of the Free Syrian Army... took control of the centre of Afrin this morning," Recep Tayyip Erdogan said.
The two month-long Turkish operation has been aimed at ridding Afrin, close to Turkey's border, of a Kurdish militia it considers a terrorist group.
More than 150,000 civilians have fled the assault on Afrin, reports say.
Activists say 280 civilians have died, although this is denied by Ankara.
Troops are now reported to be combing the streets of central Afrin for fighters of the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG).
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Their entry into the city was far quicker than expected, BBC Turkey correspondent Mark Lowen said.
Civilians deserted Afrin in the past few days, leaving the area through a narrow corridor.
Turkey regards the YPG as an extension of the banned Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has fought for Kurdish autonomy in south-eastern Turkey for three decades.
The YPG denies any direct organisational links to the PKK - an assertion backed by the US, which is allied with the YPG in the battle against the jihadist group Islamic State (IS) in Syria.
