„Turkish forces (and allied rebels) are on the edges of Afrin, less than two kilometres from the town‘s northeast,“ said Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman.

They successfully captured the Brigade 135 military base from Kurdish forces, both Abdel Rahman and an AFP correspondent embedded with the rebel groups said.

Pro-Ankara fighters could be seen taking heavy machine guns and ammunition from the base, even as they continued to exchange fire with nearby Kurdish fighters.