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Conflicting reports emerge as Turkey's Olive Branch rakes Afrin

In the chaos of Turkey's offensive in Afrin, Syria, both the Turks and Syrian Kurdish militants continue to claim the upper hand and dismiss each other's casualty reports as propaganda.
A Turkey-backed Free Syrian Army fighter holds a makeshift Turkish flag as he patrols on a road near Azaz, Syria January 21, 2018. REUTERS/Osman Orsal - RC12DBB08A80

Turkish forces have kept up their offensive against Kurdish militants in the northern Syrian Afrin region for a third day as both sides continued to claim victory against the other.

The Anadolu news agency reported that Turkish-led forces had captured the strategic Bursaya Mountain today. The pro-government newspaper Yeni Safak showed footage of what it claimed were Turkish forces and their Free Syrian Army (FSA) allies atop the mountain hauling off militants allied with the Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) amid loud chants of “Allahu akbar," or "God is great." A journalist recording the moment joined in the celebrations.

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