Since the beginning of the Turkish military offensive in northern Syria, more than 300,000 people have fled the border region, according to estimates by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights based in the United Kingdom.
The British organization said the majority fled the contested areas around the Syrian towns of Tal Abjad and Kobane (Ain al-Arab) and from the Syrian province of Hasaka.
The United Nations had so far spoken of 160,000 displaced civilians.
Despite international criticism from Washington, the Turkish army is fighting in the neighboring country against the YPG, which classifies it as a terrorist organization. For the US and other western states, however, the Kurdish militia was for many years an important ally in the fight against the terrorist militia Islamic State (IS). Dozens of civilians – especially on the Kurdish side – have been killed since the beginning of the fighting.
