The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) Media Center said in a statement that civilian areas and premises in the town of Zarkan/Abu Racine and Sherawa district, in the south of Afrin, have been indiscriminately shelled with artillery by Turkish occupation and its mercenaries since Friday morning.

The statement said that "these areas are overcrowded with civilians and displaced people from the occupied areas of Ras al-Ain/Srei Kaneh and Afrin," and added that since "Friday morning these areas have been targeted by more than 320 shells hitting indiscriminately civilian homes, medical institutions, and communications posts in the downtown of the Zarkan, which is home to more than 7,000 civilians."

The statement said that "in the Shirawa district and the town of Tel Rifaat, the occupation shelled the orchards and farms of civilians with more than 140 artillery shells, causing extensive material damage. The Turkish continued indiscriminate shelling targeting populated areas has transformed them into a war zone, and it is part of the collective punishment policy undertaken by the Turkish occupying army against the people, and it also underscores the Turkish brutality and lack of distinction between military and civilian targets by using deliberately long-range and prohibited weapons."

The SDF pointed out that "Turkey’s insistence on moving the battlefield to populated areas, giving the civilians the choice of killing or displacement is considered a gross war crime", and called "on all international institutions of human rights to investigate the Turkish crimes since 2018 and refer the criminals responsible to the competent courts, and we call on the international guarantors to take concrete field steps to prevent the Turkish occupation from committing further killings against our people."