29 terrorists ‘neutralized’ in northern Syria

ANKARA

Turkish security forces have ‘neutralized’ 29 PKK/YPG terrorists in northern Syria, the Defense Ministry has announced.

“Commandos neutralized 28 terrorists, who were preparing to launch an attack in the Operation Euphrates Shield zone,” said the ministry in a statement on Feb. 11.

Another terrorist, who was also planning an attack, was targeted in the Operation Peace Spring area, the statement added.

Since the start of the year, 18 anti-terror operations, including 5 large-scale operations, have been executed and 316 terrorists have been neutralized, Maj. Pinar Kara, spokesperson for the Defense Ministry told reporters on Feb.10.

A total of 33,584 terrorists have been neutralized inside the country, Iraq and northern Syria since July 2015, she said.

The PKK is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S., and the EU. The YPG is the PKK’s Syrian offshoot.

The defense ministry official separately said that security forces prevented 33,397 people from illegally entering Turkey through its borders in January alone.