Afrin, Syria

Afrin is a Kurdish majority city in northern Syria, in the Aleppo Governorate Afrin District, near the Syria-Turkey border. It grew from a 19th century marketplace and had about 70,000 residents in the city proper as of 2020, on the Afrin River from which the city and district take their name. Turkish-backed forces captured Afrin from Kurdish control during Operation Olive Branch in March 2018, and the new Syrian government assumed control of the area in early 2025 after the civil war largely ended.