Ankara: Trkiye "neutralized" a total of 3,226 terrorists in northern Iraq and northern Syria since Jan. 1, 2024, the Turkish National Defense Ministry said Thursday. A total of 62 PKK/YPG terrorists have been "neutralized" in northern Iraq and northern Syria over the past week, ministry spokesman Zeki Akturk told reporters during a briefing in the capital Ankara.

According to Anadolu Agency, the PKK, which is listed as a terrorist organization by Trkiye, the US, and the EU, has been responsible for the deaths of over 40,000 people in its 40-year campaign against Trkiye. The YPG, also known as PYD, is its Syrian offshoot. In 2022, Trkiye launched Operation Claw-Lock to target the terror group's hideouts in northern Iraq's Metina, Zap, and Avasin-Basyan regions.

Regarding border security, Akturk reported that Turkish authorities apprehended 107 individuals attempting to cross the borders illegally in the past week, while preventing 2,695 others.

In response to questions about the PKK/YPG terrorist group using civilians as human shields in the Tishrin Dam area of northern Syria, ministry sources stated that they are closely monitoring the ongoing clashes between the Syrian National Army (SNA) and the PKK/YPG terrorist group in the region. "The terrorist group is forcibly bringing civilians to the conflict zones to deceive the international community with disinformation, falsely claiming that attacks are being carried out against civilians," the sources said.