[93] The offensive came amid growing tension between the Turkish and American governments over the latter's support of the Syrian Democratic Forces, which are made up primarily of Kurdish fighters of the YPG, which Turkey considers to be a branch of the PKK.

[97][needs update] In the days prior to the offensive, Turkey and the Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army exchanged artillery fire with YPG militants along the Turkish-Syrian border near Afrin.

[100][101] On 12 February, Turkey's Interior Ministry added the former PYD co-leader Salih Muslim Muhammad to its "wanted terrorists" list along with several new names and offered money for information on his whereabouts.

[109][110] A video clip surfaced on the Internet which showed several TFSA Jihadists singing praise of previous battles that they've fought including Tora Bora (former headquarters of Osama bin Laden), Grozny, and Dagestan and then concluding: "And now Afrin is calling to us".

[108][111] The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also stated that members of the Grey Wolves, a Turkish fascist, ultranationialist extremist organisation, fought alongside the pro-Turkish forces in Afrin.

[44] Haaretz reported that US-backed Kurdish forces received aid from Syrian President Bashar al-Assad after Kurds requested that Damascus send reinforcements to protect Afrin's border.

[121] In late January, there were multiple reports that Western foreign fighters, including Americans, British, and Germans among others, had moved into Afrin to aid its defense against Turkish-led forces.

[141][142] The Turkish General Staff made the announcement in a statement published on its website, saying the objective of the mission is to "establish security and stability on our borders and region, to eliminate terrorists of PKK/KCK/PYD-YPG and ISIL.

[140] SOHR reported that Turkish troops had clashed with Kurdish militias on the northern and western borders of Afrin and entered the towns of Shankil and Adah Manli to the west.

[161][162][163] On 6 February, a convoy from the eastern parts of SDF-controlled Northern Syria carrying YPG as well as Yazidi YBŞ and YJÊ fighters passed through government-held territory and arrived in the city of Afrin after an agreement for the transfer was approved by Damascus.

A commander among the pro-Syrian government forces also said that the army had deployed air defenses and anti-aircraft missiles to the front lines near Turkish positions, covering the airspace of northern Syria including Afrin.

[229] After the Turkish-led forces captured Afrin District in early 2018, they began to implement a resettlement policy by moving Arab refugees from southern Syria into the empty homes that belonged to displaced locals.

[232] On 18 November 2018, the Turkish Army and Turkish-backed rebel factions launched an operation against a group named al-Sharqiya Martyrs of about 200 fighters who were reported to disobey and commit abuses.

[250] Turkey has also implemented more contentious policies, however, as it began to resettle TFSA fighters[77] and refugees from southern Syria[251] into the empty homes that belonged to displaced Kurdish and Yazidi locals.

Hostilities remained high between mostly Kurdish natives and largely Arab refugees who had settled in the region after the occupation,[248] while several TFSA groups continued to cause security problems.

[267] In response to the continued insurgency, Turkey and its allied militias launched a military operation against the Tell Rifaat Subdistrict which was jointly held by the SDF and Syrian government and considered a base for YPG guerrilla attacks.

Lama Fakih, the deputy Middle East director at HRW, stated: "It appears that vulnerable civilians are facing displacement and death because of the way Turkey's latest offensive is being conducted.

The HRW stated that such attacks are a violation of international law: "Turkey should thoroughly investigate these strikes, make the findings public, and provide adequate redress to civilian victims or their families.

[293] Less than a week after the operation began, Redur Xelil, a senior SDF official, said that at least 66 civilians had been killed by aerial and artillery bombardment by Turkish forces, and accused Turkey of committing war crimes.

Geneva Call also stated that it had received "a worrying number of allegations on the use of child soldiers" by the YPG, even though the latter had previously signed an agreement to protect children in conflict zones.

[309] SDF officials have claimed that child soldiers are only 16-18 and do not serve on the frontlines, which is a similar arrangements to states like the UK who avoid the ban on under-18 military recruitment through a treaty reservation Archived 6 February 2018 at the Wayback Machine.

The United Nations reported that civilians were prevented from leaving the city of Afrin by the YPG/YPJ, and were at "high risk" of being "killed, injured, besieged, used as human shields or displaced as a result of the fighting.

[325] However, on 7 March, Moody's Investors Service downgraded Turkey's debt, warning of an erosion of checks and balances under the leadership of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and saying that the Afrin offensive, having strained ties with Washington and drawn the country deeper into the Syrian civil war, had added an extra layer of geopolitical risk.

[346] In a letter, addressed to President Erdoğan and published by Turkey's Hürriyet daily, the Greek Orthodox Patriarch, Bartholomew I of Constantinople, has also lent his support to the Turkish military operation.

[citation needed] İbrahim Karagül, editor-in-chief of the pro-AKP Yeni Şafak, wrote that the US is the real enemy and that it has a plan to "divide and destroy Turkey" by allying itself to PKK and ISIS.

"[360] The Turkish Radio and Television Corporation (TRT World) reported that Free Syrian Army "has captured a weapon from the YPG, which is thought to have been supplied to the SDF by the United States.

[375] Prime Minister Binali Yildirim stated that those social users who make posts that criticize the operation or depict the military incursion as an attack on Kurds would be considered the "biggest villainy".

[73] In regards to the arrests, Hugh Williamson, the Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch, said: "Detaining and prosecuting people for tweets calling for peace is a new low for Turkey's government."

He then added, "Turkish authorities should respect people's right to peacefully criticize any aspect of government policy, including military operations, and drop these absurd cases.

"[226][380][381] Among other things, the Syrian foreign ministry said: ″As part of the crimes committed by the Turkish army forces, including the ethnic cleansing policy, the properties of the citizens have been looted, their homes destroyed and many of them were detained.″[380] On 6 April, at the Non-Aligned Movement mid-term ministerial conference in Azerbaijan, Syria's permanent representative to the United Nations Ambassador Bashar Jaafari said that "Turkey has to withdraw its troops from Afrin.