Operation "spring of peace" .. Turkish forces incursion towards Tall Abyad and high numbers of dead and displaced

In the wake of air strikes and heavy artillery shelling, the Turkish army and the Syrian armed opposition forces continued their incursion towards the towns of Ras al-Ain and Tal Abyad in northern Syria in preparation for their storming.

This coincides with the announcement of the Turkish Ministry of Defense for the death toll among the Kurdish forces to 342 since the beginning of the operation "spring of peace" on Wednesday.

Al-Jazeera correspondent reported that three Turkish soldiers were killed in a mortar attack by the YPG on Rifaat hill in northern Syria, and that eight civilians were killed and dozens wounded by shelling from Syrian territory on Turkish border towns.

The Anatolia news agency said that two of its reporters were slightly injured by the targeting of a building they were inside the district of Nusaybin of the province of Mardin.

On the other hand, the Syrian Democratic Forces admitted killing 29 of its members since the beginning of the Turkish military operation, and confirmed the killing of nine civilians as a result of the Turkish bombing.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that at least seven civilians were killed today by Turkish troops in the third day of the operation "spring of peace."

Syrian opposition forces launched a ground assault on a number of SDF positions in the city of Ras al-Ain, while Turkish military reinforcements from the border reached the outskirts of the city of Tal Abyad.

Turkish and Syrian armed opposition forces had earlier reached a depth of eight kilometers inside Syria, and took control of 15 villages in the vicinity of Tal Abyad and Ras al-Ain.

Al-Jazeera correspondent said that Tel Abyad is experiencing a blackout of electricity and communications for the third day in a row, in addition to the displacement of large numbers of its residents towards the rural areas nearby.

According to the Anatolia news agency, the YPG is holding civilians aged 44 years and under for compulsory recruitment in the cities of Qamishli, Ras al-Ain, Tal Abyad, Raqqa, its countryside and Manbij, after raising the age of those wanted for recruitment in areas under its control from 39 years to 44 after the launch of the Turkish operation.

Humanitarianly, the United Nations confirmed that the ongoing military operations in northern Syria for the third day in a row caused the displacement of about 100,000 people from their homes.

Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) also said that the only public hospital in the Tal Abyad area was forced to close after most of its workers fled under the impact of the shelling.

The World Food Program, which helps feed some 650,000 people in northeastern Syria, said more than 70,000 residents of Ras al-Ain and Tal Abyad have been displaced.