A total of 811 PKK/KCK/PYD/YPG and Daesh terrorists have been killed since the start of Turkey's Operation Olive Branch in northwestern Syria, the military said Thursday. A town center was also captured from the terrorists, sources said.
Turkish Armed Forces carried out airstrikes overnight on the shelters, positions, arms, and equipment of the terrorists, destroying 18 more terrorist targets, according to a General Staff statement.
All the warplanes returned back to their bases after the operation, the statement added.
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.
The Turkish Armed Forces and the Free Syrian Army (FSA) also captured the Darmak mountain on Friday a day after clearing the Bulbul town center in north of Syria's Afrin of YPG terrorists.
Turkish military takes control of Darmak mountain in Syria's Afrin a day after clearing Bulbul town of YPG terroristshttps://t.co/S6sNtVlGaB pic.twitter.com/Nzy62kzO3T
— DAILY SABAH (@DailySabah) February 2, 2018
Meanwhile, the Turkish military and Free Syrian Army forces announced that they had liberated the town of Ali Kar from all YPG/PKK terrorists during their counter-terror operation.
Clearing the village of the Democratic Union Party (PYD) and its armed group the YPG, located in the northern Bulbul district, led to full control of a large zone in Afrin's north, together with the previously cleared village of Shenkal and Zahran region.
On day 13 of Operation Olive Branch, 20 villages and 27 zones, including seven strategic mountains and hills, were liberated from the terrorist group in Afrin.
Operation Olive Branch was launched by Turkey on Jan. 20 to remove the PKK/PYD/YPG/KCK and Daesh 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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