GAZIANTEP, Turkey

More than 4,000 Syrians have returned to Jarabulus near the Turkish border, a local migration official told Anadolu Agency on Tuesday.

Head of the Gaziantep regional migration office, Oktay Bahceci said that the number of Syrians returning to Jarabulus since its liberation from Daesh terrorists late August has reached 4,055.

The returns have taken place since the Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army (FSA) took control of the city of Jarabulus in Aleppo province as part of Operation Euphrates Shield, which began on Aug. 24.

Turkey has said the military operation is aimed at bolstering border security, supporting coalition forces and eliminating the threat posed by terror organizations, namely Daesh.

The operation is in line with the country’s right to self-defense borne out of international treaties and a mandate given to Turkey’s armed forces by its parliament in 2014, which was extended for another year in September 2015.

Syria has been locked in a vicious civil war since early 2011 when the Assad regime cracked down on pro-democracy protests – which erupted as part of the Arab Spring uprisings – with unexpected ferocity.

The Syrian Center for Policy Research, a Beirut-based NGO, has put the total death toll from the five-year conflict at more than 470,000.