4,448 terrorists 'neutralized' in Turkey's Afrin op

By Kubra Chohan

ANKARA

The number of "neutralized" terrorists in Turkey's operation in northwestern Afrin, Syria has risen to 4,448, while eight terrorists were also neutralized in operations over the past week in northern Iraq and southeastern Turkey, the Turkish army said on Friday.

In a written statement, the Turkish General Staff announced the latest number of neutralized terrorists since the Jan. 20 start of Operation Olive Branch.

Turkish authorities often use the word "neutralized" in their statements to imply that the terrorists in question either surrendered or were killed or captured.

Turkey launched Operation Olive Branch on Jan. 20 to clear YPG/PKK and Daesh terrorist groups from Afrin, northwestern Syria amid growing threats from the region.

On March 18, Turkish-backed troops liberated the Afrin town center, which had been a major hideout for the YPG/PKK terrorists since 2012.

According to the Turkish General Staff, the operation aims to establish security and stability along Turkey’s borders and the region as well as to protect Syrians from the oppression and cruelty of terrorists.

In the same statement, the General Staff also said air operations had been conducted against the PKK terror group on May 6-11 in Turkey’s southeastern province of Diyarbakir, as well as in northern Iraq.

Eight terror targets, including shelters and hideouts, were destroyed during the airstrikes, the statement said.

Airstrikes on PKK targets in northern Iraq, where the terror group has its main base in the Mt. Qandil region, near the Iranian border, have been carried out regularly since July 2015, when the PKK resumed its armed campaign.

The PKK is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey as well as the U.S. and EU. In its terror campaign against Turkey, which has lasted for more than three decades, over 40,000 people have been killed, including women and children.

The YPG/PKK is the Syrian branch of the terrorist PKK.