1,600 militants ‘neutralized’ since launch of Euphrates Shield Operation in Syria: Turkish military
ANKARA
REUTERS photo
Some 1,600 militants have been “neutralized” in the Euphrates Shield Operation in Syria since its launch in August, the Turkish Armed Forces announced on Dec. 30.The military stated that 1,294 of that number were Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militants, while the other 306 were members of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and the People’s Democratic Union (PYD).
According to the military, 1,171 ISIL militants were killed while 177 were injured and six were captured. Some 291 PKK/PYD members were killed, four were wounded and 11 surrendered to security forces over the course of the four-month operation.
It also added that the Air Force dropped 965 bombs on 883 targets, while 2,392 home-made explosives and 42 mines were destroyed.
In domestic ISIL operations, meanwhile, police on Dec. 30 detained 40 people suspected of links to group in the southern Turkish province of Adana.
In an operation backed by helicopters, counter-terror police carried out simultaneous raids on a number of addresses, using battering rams to break open doors.
The suspects were taken to the Adana police headquarters after routine health checks.
Those detained are suspected of ISIL membership and of engaging in ISIL propaganda.
Turkey launched a military incursion into Syria on Aug. 24 in support of Syrian rebels to try to drive ISIL away from the border area, and has frequently carried out raids on suspected militants’ safe-houses in Istanbul and other cities.
