Baladi News
Turkish Ministry of National Defense has said it “neutralized” more than 3,000 Islamic State (ISIS) militants and destroyed more than 21,000 ISIS targets, Hurriyet Daily News reported.
“As the only army that carried out hand-to-hand fight with Daesh, Turkish Armed Forces neutralized over 3,000 radical terrorists of Daesh and enabled 320,000 Syrians to return to their homes with the Operation Euphrates Shield launched on August 2016,” Turkish Ministry of National Defense said in a written statement on March 23.
Turkish authorities often use the word “neutralize” in their statements to imply that the militants in question either surrendered or were killed or captured.
Turkish Armed Forces allied with the Syrian opposition forces started Operation Euphrates Shield on August 24, 2016 in an attempt to ensure border security and the return of Syrian refugees and prevent ISIS terrorism.
“Operation Euphrates Shield reached its goal after the control of al-Bab settlement was gained on Feb. 24, 2017,” the statement said.
“The operations we conducted at the Syrian border, and in addition to these operations, all the efforts to stabilize and support the region together with other involved state organizations resulted in the return of more than 320.000 Syrians to their homeland,” it said.
The U.S. backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) waged the final offensive against the ISIS militants in their last pocket in Deir Ezzor, on September 10 2018, capturing the town after the other before finally announcing the defeat of the Islamic State organisation in the town of Baghouz, March 23rd.
Source: Hurriyet Daily News.