Syrian Kurdish YPG says pro-govt forces deployed on Afrin frontlines

BEIRUT: The Syrian Kurdish YPG militia said on Thursday that hundreds of pro-Damascus fighters had deployed on frontlines in Syria's Afrin region to help counter a Turkish offensive.

"Groups aligned to the Syrian army came to Afrin, but not in the quantity or capacity to stop the Turkish occupation," YPG spokesman Nouri Mahmoud told Reuters. "The Syrian army must fulfill its duty... to protect Syria's borders."

Mahmoud also denied that any Syrian government forces or institutions had entered a district in Aleppo under the control of Syrian Kurdish fighters.