ANKARA

Turkish security forces “neutralized” 10 YPG/PKK terrorists who launched an attack in northern Syria, an area near Turkey’s southern border, the Turkish National Defense Ministry said on Wednesday.

The terrorists were “neutralized” as they opened fire and attempted to infiltrate the Operation Peace Spring zone, where Turkey carried out a cross-border anti-terror operation in 2019, said a ministry statement on Twitter.

“We continue to justly punish terrorists whose sole purpose is to bloody the region,” added the statement.

Turkish authorities use the term "neutralize" to imply the terrorists in question surrendered or were killed or captured.

Since 2016, Ankara has launched a trio of successful anti-terror operations across its border in northern Syria to prevent the formation of a terror corridor and enable the peaceful settlement of residents: Euphrates Shield (2016), Olive Branch (2018), and Peace Spring (2019).

In its more than 35-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK – listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the US, and EU – has been responsible for the deaths of at least 40,000 people, including women, children, and infants. The YPG is the PKK's Syrian offshoot.