Turkey's assault on Kurdish militia known as the YPG has entered its sixth week in northwest Syria. Dozens of pro-government soldiers were killed in air strikes. And we're learning the Turkish Army is in control of at least 70 percent of one town not far from Afrin, according to monitoring groups. Michal Bardavid has more.

MICHAL BARDAVID ISTANBUL "Turkey's Afrin operation continued full force on Saturday. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Turkish warplanes killed at least 36 people in Afrin."

The Kurdish YPG group also stated that pro-Syrian government troops known as popular forces were hit by Turkish airstrikes in the early hours of Saturday morning. These popular forces had recently arrived in the area to support the YPG in its fight against Turkey. There was also an announcement made by Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim. He stated that Turkey had captured the town of Rajo from militants. He also stated that Afrin was now surrounded and that Turkey had cleared border areas in Afrin of terrorists.

The Turkish army has lost more than 40 of its soldiers since the beginning of the operation. Meanwhile, attacks by Syrian government forces on rebel-held areas in Eastern Ghouta continued. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Syrian government forces took almost complete control of the town of al-Shayfouniya on Saturday. Eastern Ghouta is considered a humanitarian disaster, with more than six hundred civilians killed over the past two weeks. Both a UN declared ceasefire and a Russian effort to impose a daily pause in fighting to allow for evacuations and aid deliveries, have largely failed. Michal Bardavid, CGTN, Istanbul.