Tactical Talk (Update) A total of 947 PKK-linked People’s Protection Units (YPG) and ISIS terrorists have been “neutralized” in Operation Olive Branch in Syria’s northwestern Afrin region, the military said in a statement Monday.
The Turkish military uses the term “neutralized” in reference to terrorists captured dead or alive, or those who surrendered during the operations. However, the term is usually used for the terrorists who were killed in the operations.
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The military said that 12 terrorists have been “neutralized” in airstrikes carried out overnight.
Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) and the Free Syrian Army (FSA) on Monday captured Sourkeh village in the western part of the Raju town, northwest of Syria’s Afrin.
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TSK and FSA have captured 35 different strategic areas from terrorists since the beginning of the operation.
Operation Olive Branch was launched by Turkey on Jan. 20 to remove the PKK/PYD/YPG/KCK and ISIS terrorists from Afrin in northwestern Syria.
According to the Turkish General Staff, the operation aims to establish security and stability along Turkish borders and in the region as well as to protect Syrian people from the oppression and cruelty of terrorists.
The operation is being carried out under the framework of Turkey’s rights within international law, U.N. Security Council resolutions, its right to self-defense under the U.N. charter and respect for Syria’s territorial integrity, it said.
The military also said, “utmost importance” is being placed on not harming any civilians.
The operation in Afrin – bordering Turkey’s Hatay and Kilis provinces – was widely expected in the wake of Turkey’s Operation Euphrates Shield in northern Syria, which cleared Daesh terrorists from Turkey’s border between Aug. 24, 2016, and March 2017.
Afrin has been a major hideout for the YPG/PKK since July 2012 when the Assad regime in Syria left the city to the terror group without putting up a fight.
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