Turkish military dismisses reports of Afrin hospital shelling as fake, releases drone footage

LATEST — Turkish Armed Forces releases drone footage of unharmed hospital after YPG terrorists' propaganda accusing Turkey of shelling main hospital in Syria's Afrinhttps://t.co/mxe3NTuipT pic.twitter.com/Hz9GhOTf2T

— DAILY SABAH (@DailySabah) March 17, 2018

The Turkish military on Saturday dismissed reports claiming that Turkish shelling hit a hospital in the city of Afrin in northwestern Syria as fake news.

The reports of the shelling came as Turkish forces along with the Free Syrian Army (FSA) encircled Afrin city center as part of the Operation Olive Branch in the region.

The Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) also released drone footage of the hospital from Saturday morning, showing the building intact and unharmed.

The military previously stressed that the anti-terror operation was being "conducted in a way not to harm any civilians and the environment."

Several reports appeared late Friday claiming that Turkish shells struck a hospital in Afrin, killing several civilians.

On Jan. 20, Turkey launched Operation Olive Branch to clear Afrin from the PKK terror group's Syrian offshoots the Democratic Union Party (PYD) and its armed wing the People's Protection Units (YPG) as well as remaining Daesh elements.

The military also said only terror targets are being destroyed and that the "utmost care" is being taken to avoid harming civilians.