The following is a timeline of the Syrian Civil War from January to April 2018. Information about aggregated casualty counts is found at Casualties of the Syrian Civil War. January 2018 2 January The Syrian Army and allies made advances on the Beit Jinn area, capturing 3 villages and hilltops, in western Ghouta. 4 January Russian Air Force airstrikes killed 25 civilians in Eastern Ghouta. 5 January Jaysh al-Islam fighters attempted to infiltrate ISIL positions in the orchards between Yalda and Hajjar As-Aswad, to the immediate south of Damascus city. 7 January The Syrian Army lifts the siege of Harasta vehicle base, which had been besieged by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, Ahrar al-Sham and Al-Rahman Legion since 29 December 2017. 11 January The Syrian army captures 34 villages, including Um-Miyal after advancing south of Aleppo towards the Abu al-Duhur Airbase, reaching a distance of about 6 km from its forces in the eastern countryside of Idlib. 17 January Several international newspapers (e.g. the Saudi-owned Asharq Al-Awsat, the French Le Monde and the Italian La Repubblica) report on the publication of a civil peace initiative, the Code of Conduct for Syrian Coexistence as a result of years-long secret negotiations between Syrian tribal leaders, representatives of Alawites, Sunnis and various clans and Syrian communities. 20 January Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced the beginning of a military operation to capture Afrin and subsequently Manbij from Kurdish forces (Rojava). It is the first major military operation by Turkey in Syria since Operation Euphrates Shield. Syrian Army forces capture the Abu al-Duhur airbase in Idlib governorate. The civilian death toll of the Rif Dimashq offensive rose to 200 over the first 48 hours, and the number of hospitals struck rose to seven - the highest 48 hour death toll since the 2013 Ghouta chemical attack. 22 January Afrin offensive: Turkish forces - TAF/TSK and their Syrian National Army (SNA) allies - announce the capture of seven villages, although the Kurdish YPG recaptured two of them. 27 January Afrin offensive: As Turkey's Afrin intervention entered its second week, Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu urged the US to 'immediately withdraw' its military personnel from Manbij in northern Syria that's held by the Kurds. February 2018 3 February A Russian Su-25 fighter jet is shot down by a MANPAD while on a patrolling mission over the ″de-escalation zone″ in the Idlib governorate. The pilot, Roman Filipov, safely ejected