Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has confirmed that an operation in Syria's Afrin has de-facto started on the ground.
"The Afrin operation has de-facto been started on the ground," Erdogan said in a televised speech, adding that "this will be followed by Manbij," referring to another Kurdish-controlled Syrian town.
Following Erdogan's speech, a senior Turkish official told Reuters that after Afrin, the Turkish military would free nearby Manbij with the aim to rebuild social and economic infrastructure in the region.
The day before, Turkish Defense Minister Nurettin Canikli said in an interview with the Haberturk broadcaster that an operation in Afrin had "de-facto" started with cross-border shelling.