FRENCH President Emmanuel Macron told his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan today that the UN-declared ceasefire applies to Afrin.

Turkey said yesterday that its invasion of northern Syria’s Kurdish enclave would not be affected by the UN security council’s 30-day ceasefire, as it was fighting “terrorists.”

The security council unanimously adopted a resolution on Saturday declaring a humanitarian ceasefire, adding that military operations against Isis, al-Qaida, the Nusra Front and “other terrorist groups, as designated by the security council” were exempt.

In a call Mr Macron told the Turkish president that the ceasefire “covered all Syrian territory, including Afrin, and must be put into effect everywhere and by everyone without delay.”

Ankara considers the Kurdish YPG, which is in control of Afrin, an extension of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party, which is fighting Kurdish oppression on Turkish soil.

Turkish state news agency Anadolu reported today that pro-Turkey Kurds were joining the so-called Operation Olive Branch invasion of Afrin. The Kurdish Falcons brigade of the Free Syrian Army, consisting of 400 Kurds and 200 Arabs, would assist Turkish armed forces, said Anadolu.

It announced that paramilitary special forces had crossed into the region today, signalling a possible offensive to capture the main city of Afrin. Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdag said the deployment was “in preparation of a new combat.”

Russia announced that it is implementing the UN resolution with daily “humanitarian pauses” in rebel-held eastern Ghouta.

From tomorrow, there will be no shelling between 9am and 2pm and Russia will set up an evacuation route for civilians in the Damascus suburb.