On 28 January 2018, The Independent published an article written by Robert Fisk and which is about the allegations of civilian casualties during Turkey's Afrin operation, dubbed the Operation Olive Branch. However, it includes an important factual mistake. 

 

Raising the allegations of the civilian casualties, the author mentions an area called Jendeeres, which was hit by the Turkish army's airstrikes. The author voices the claim that “there were no YPG fighters there” and defends that the airstrikes in the area were not justifiable on military grounds.

 

However, independent sources and even the YPG itself are telling the opposite and they mention the area as part of the clashes between the Turkish Armed Forces and the YPG militants.

 

The Syria Live Map, a website monitoring the developments in the Syrian Civil War on a daily basis, reported “heavy clashes going on” between the Turkish army and the militants on January 21 and 22, alleged dates of the air-raids.

 

Additionally, the Pro-PKK/YPG website ANHA mentions "heavy clashes" in Jendeeres. YPG militants even claimed to "inflict severe casualties on the Turkish army" in the area.