Turkey-Syria Tensions: Turkish border towns hit in wake of operation in Afrin

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Turkey's Olive Branch operation in Syria's Afrin continued on Wednesday. As Turkey tries to drive the Kurdish militant group YPG out of Afrin with the support of Syrian rebels, retaliating rockets are also hitting Turkish border towns. At least two people were killed and several wounded in a rocket attack in Turkey's Kilis. CGTN's Michal Bardavid has the latest.

Early Wednesday morning, a massive explosion rocked the outskirts of Afrin as Turkish airstrikes targeted YPG positions. Later that night, a rocket hit a mosque in the Turkish border town of Kilis ambulances rushed the injured to nearby hospitals.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called on the international community to support Turkey in its cause to defeat the YPG, but also added the operation will not end with Afrin.

TAYYIP ERDOGAN TURKISH PRESIDENT "Hopefully, starting from Manbij, we will continue by thwarting this game along our borders and we will completely wipe out this trouble from our region."

MICHAL BARDAVID HATAY, TURKEY "For the Turkish government, one of the main aims of the Olive Branch operation is maintaining border security, but for the Free Syrian army - which plays a significant role in supporting Turkey on the ground in Afrin, there are other concerns as well."

HAMZA HABBOUSH FREE SYRIAN ARMY MEMBER "They want to create a state, their own state - The Kurdish State. And that will separate East and West - it will split Syria. And their goals are even bigger than that, they want to capture so much territory, so we have to fight them because we are one FSA army and we are one Syrian nation."

Hamza was previously fighting against ISIL on the ground in Jarablus and says the YPG is more difficult to defeat.

HAMZA HABBOUSH FREE SYRIAN ARMY MEMBER "This terrorist organization - their members are trained and have strong equipment. Even the girls are well trained."

A commander with the FSA, Salim Alberiny says there are other challenges as well.

SALIM ALBERINY FREE SYRIAN ARMY COMMANDER "The impediment is the mountainous nature of the area, it impedes the progress of the tanks, in addition to that, they have set heavy weapons on the hills which prevent the forces from progressing."

On Wednesday, the Turkish army said it had neutralized at least 280 Syrian Kurdish fighters and ISIL militants since the operation began, referring to those who were killed, injured or captured.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said dozens of FSA members had also been killed. The operation is expected to intensify as the fighting moves towards the city center. Michal Bardavid, CGTN, Istanbul.