The Turkish army has deployed fresh troops to fight in its operation against Kurdish militias in northern Syria, ahead of what it said was a “coming battle”.

Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdag told Turkish television that police special forces had been deployed as reinforcements in Afrin, where Turkey is waging the one-month-old Operation Olive Branch to clear Kurdish fighters from the border region “in preparation for the new battle that is approaching”.

Also on Monday, Turkish-backed Syrian rebels and the Turkish army seized territory on the Afrin border, which Mr Bozdag said created a crescent under Turkish control on the Syrian side of the border.

Explosions as Turkey confirms airstrikes on Afrin, Syria

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights confirmed that Turkish troops now hold a continuous strip of land on the edge of Afrin, opening a corridor that links territory in Aleppo province under the control of the Free Syrian Army, backed by Turkey, with the rebel stronghold of Idlib province.

The new forces will hold the 87 villages Turkey says it has seized from Kurdish YPG fighters, while other units continue the assault on urban areas, Mr Bozdag said.

The air and ground offensive is designed to drive back the Kurdish YPG, which Ankara sees as inextricably linked to the Kurdish PKK, which it views as a terrorist group.

Turkish attack on Afrin, northern Syria – in pictures Show all 9 1 /9 Turkish attack on Afrin, northern Syria – in pictures Turkish attack on Afrin, northern Syria – in pictures Smoke billows following a Turkish airstrike on a village in the Afrin district, on 28 January, 2018. Turkey launched operation "Olive Branch" on January 20 against the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) militia in Afrin, supporting Syrian opposition fighters with ground troops and air strikes AFP Turkish attack on Afrin, northern Syria – in pictures Smoke billows from surrounding villages during the Turkish military operation against the Kurdish enclave on 28 January, 2018 AFP/Getty Turkish attack on Afrin, northern Syria – in pictures Twenty-year old Kifah al-Moussa, a Syrian Arab woman living among the Kurds of Afrin province, was working on a chicken farm in the village of Maryameen when a Turkish aircraft bombed the building at midday on 21 January, wounding her in the chest. When she recovered consciousness, she found eight people from one family lying dead around her Yara Ismail Turkish attack on Afrin, northern Syria – in pictures Mohamed Hussein, a 58-year-old Kurdish farmer, lies in the Afrin hospital, wounded in the head and eye after his home was bombed by Turkish aircraft on the second night of the attack Yara Ismail Turkish attack on Afrin, northern Syria – in pictures Syrian Kurds sit on benches overlooking a street in Afrin, on 28 January, 2018. Above is a memorial to ‘martyrs’ who died in the fight against Isis AFP/Getty Turkish attack on Afrin, northern Syria – in pictures Smoke is seen rising on the Syrian side of the border, at Hassa, near Hatay, southern Turkey as Turkish jet fighters hit People's Protection Unit (YPG) positions, on 28 January, 2018 AFP/Getty Turkish attack on Afrin, northern Syria – in pictures A Turkish made T-155 Firtina (Storm) howitzer is dispatched to the border at Hassa near Hatay, southern Turkey, on 28 January, 2018 AFP/Getty Turkish attack on Afrin, northern Syria – in pictures A Turkish soldier waves a flag on Mount Barsaya, northeast of Afrin, on 28 January, 2018 Reuters Turkish attack on Afrin, northern Syria – in pictures Turkey-backed Free Syrian Army fighters are seen in Barsaya mountain, northeast of Afrin, on 28 January, 2018 Reuters

Turkey has opened a new front in Syria’s complex seven-year-old conflict.

Olive Branch is widely believed to have been sparked by Turkish anger at renewed US support for the YPG and Arab-Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces, which its Nato ally has backed as the most effective ground force against Isis.

The offensive has not been very successful so far: most of the larger towns in the region, including Afrin itself, remain under YPG control.

Turkey said on Monday that Saturday’s UN Security Council demand for a 30-day truce across Syria – designed to stop the fighting in eastern Ghouta – does not apply to its offensive in Afrin.

Over the weekend Turkey dealt Syria’s Kurds a diplomatic blow, after influential former leader Salih Muslim was taken into custody in the Czech Republic following a Turkish request.

Turkey has requested that Salih Muslim, a Syrian national, be extradited to Turkey to face terror charges it made against him in 2016. He was in Prague for a conference.