
Hundreds of families fled theSyrian town of Afrin towards nearby villages held by pro-Syrian government forces overnight as Turkish forces shelled the town, theSyrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
Turkish forces and alliedSyrian militias are targeting Afrin in an offensive against the Kurdish YPG militia in northwesternSyria.
The Observatory said families left the town in buses and cars towards Nubl and al-Zahra, Shi'ite Muslim villages that are loyal to the government of President Bashar al-Assad. TheSyrian government has sided with the YPG against Turkey in Afrin.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Friday that more than 12,000 people leftSyria's rebel-held eastern Ghouta on Thursday.
He also said that any threat from the United States to strike theSyrian capital Damascus would be unacceptable.
The Observatory said Russian jets carried out the strikes, citing its activist network on the ground. AdvancingSyrian government forces have splintered eastern Ghouta into three enclaves in an offensive that has been underway for a month.
The latest wave of air strikes hit the southern most enclave of eastern Ghouta, from which thousands of civilians fled on Thursday into government-held territory.