4,254 militants 'neutralized' in Afrin operation: Turkish military       

ANKARA – Anadolu Agency

The number of "neutralized" militants in Turkey's operation in northwestern Afrin, Syria has risen to 4,254, while 37 militants were also neutralized in operations over the past week in northern Iraq and eastern Turkey, the Turkish army said on April 21.       

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

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

Turkey launched Operation Olive Branch on Jan. 20 to clear the People's Protection Units (YPG) from Afrin in northwestern Syria.

In the same statement, the General Staff also said air operations had been conducted against the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) between April 14 and 20 in Turkey's eastern provinces of Tunceli, Diyarbakır and Şırnak, as well as northern Iraq.       

Thirty-tree PKK targets, including shelters and hideouts, were destroyed during the airstrikes, the statement said.       

Airstrikes on PKK targets in northern Iraq, where the 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.