New groups of the pro-regime forces, also known as popular forces, arrived in Afrin to support Kurdish forces battling Turkish forces and their Syrian proxies, SANA reported.
A first group of pro-government forces arrived in Afrin Tuesday evening and quickly came under Turkish bombardment.
They entered the canton on agreement with the YPG to be deployed to the border areas and have moved into positions on the frontlines with the Turkish forces, but are not in the Bulbul area of northern Afrin, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
Turkey is in control of Bulbul town.
Turkey’s presidential spokesperson Ibrahim Kalin told reporters earlier on Wednesday that any group backing the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) forces are considered a legitimate target.
Forces intervening in Afrin to support the YPG “are on the same level as terror organisations. And for us, that would make them legitimate targets," Kalin told reporters in Ankara.
"It doesn't matter who makes such an attempt, there will be serious consequences,” he vowed.
Ankara considers the YPG a terror group with ties to the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). The YPG denies the charge.
Kalin said that his government is not currently in contact with Damascus on the matter, but said, “under extraordinary conditions our intelligence unit may contact [the Syrian regime] to solve certain issues, directly or indirectly.”
Russia, a key ally of Damascus and friend of Ankara, has urged the Syrian regime to talk directly with the Kurds.
Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov urged the Syrian government to open dialogue with the Kurds, saying the regime needs to talk with all ethnic and religious groups.
All external players, especially those present inside Syria, should realize the importance for dialogue with Damascus to resolve conflict in the country, Lavrov told reporters in a press conference on Wednesday in answer to a question about Afrin.
Turkey launched its Operation Olive Branch on January 20 with the stated aim of clearing “terrorists” from its borders with the support of allied Free Syrian Army elements. It is now in control of roughly 14 percent of Afrin, according to the Observatory.
Turkish forces carried out heavy bombardment in Afrin city centre and in the border areas overnight and early Wednesday morning, the YPG-led SDF reported.
According to the force, a number of civilians, including four children, were injured. The Observatory confirmed six civilian injuries, including the children.
The YPG claimed to have destroyed two military vehicles and killed a large number of the Olive Branch forces in northeastern Afrin while Turkish media reported the Turkish forces had taken control of another two villages.
The women’s branch of the Kurdish force, the YPJ, declared they will “resist without stopping for a moment,” in a statement published Wednesday.
Updated at 6:26 pm
