17 March 2018•Update: 17 March 2018
By Sibel Ugurlu
ANKARA
Turkey’s Armed Forces on Saturday dismissed reports that the army had bombed a hospital in Syria’s northwestern city of Afrin.
“Reports of a hospital bombing in Afrin by the Turkish Armed Forces are false,” the military said in a statement posted on its Twitter account.
Operation Olive Branch “has been conducted without harming any civilians, innocent people and the environment”, the military added.
Turkey on Jan. 20 launched Operation Olive Branch to remove PYD/PKK and Daesh terrorists from Afrin.
According to the Turkish General Staff, the operation aims to establish security and stability along Turkey's borders and the region as well as protect Syrians from terrorist cruelty and oppression.
The operation is being carried out under the framework of Turkey’s rights based on international law, UN Security Council resolutions, its self-defense rights under the UN Charter and respect for Syria's territorial integrity, it said.
The military has also said that only terrorist targets are being destroyed and "utmost care" is being taken to avoid harming any civilians.
Afrin has been a major hideout for the PYD/PKK since July 2012, when Syria’s Bashar al-Assad regime left the city to the terror group without a fight.
