Cars and buses reportedly carrying people from across Syria’s Deir ez-Zor region arrived in Afrin via the Zahra crossing on Thursday, March 8, Al-Masdar News says.

According to local reports, the fighters of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) are also arriving in Afrin after having allegedly left the front in the Deir ez-Zor region to join Kurdish forces fighting Turkish troops.

In September 2017, US-backed SDF forces launched an offensive against the self-proclaimed Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) in the Deir ez-Zor Governorate with the purpose of recapturing territory east of the Euphrates.

On Monday, the Pentagon announced an “operational pause” due to the Turkish military operations in Afrin.