1,829 terrorists 'neutralized' in Syria's Afrin, Turkish military says

A total of 1,829 terrorists have been "neutralized" in Operation Olive Branch in Syria's Afrin, the Turkish military said in a statement Thursday.

The Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) 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.

Forty-nine terrorists have been killed in the past 24 hours, the military said, adding that the operations continue to target the terrorists in airstrikes and shelling.

Meanwhile, the TSK and Free Syrian Army (FSA) liberated Thursday six more villages from YPG/PKK-Daesh terrorists as part of Operation Olive Banch.

Tal Dilor village of Jinderes district in Afrin's southwest was cleared of terrorists, according to Anadolu Agency correspondents on the ground.

The villages of Ali Raju and Miqdad in Bulbul, northern Afrin, were also liberated, said another correspondent.

Later in the day, AA reported three more villages had been liberated, including Zahraa in western Afrin region.

Since the beginning of the of the operation on Jan. 20 to remove the PKK/PYD/YPG/KCK and Daesh terrorists from Afrin district in northwestern Syria, one of Afrin's five towns, 66 villages, five smaller settlements, 20 strategic mountains and hills and one YPG/PKK training base have been cleared of the terrorist group.

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.