(MENAFN) On Sunday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan stated ata provincial congress of the ruling Justice and Development Party that 3,747 terrorists have so far been 'neutralized' in Operation Olive Branch in Syria's northwestern Afrin, Turkey-based Yeni Safak reported.

Ankara, since January 20th, has launched a large-scale military offensive against the Syrian Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) in Afrin. It says that it has killed over 3,700 fighters in the region over the course of the operation, while the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights estimates the true figure to be around 1,500.

Turkey-backed FSA militia swept into Afrin town on Mar. 18, raising their and Turkish flags in the town center and declaring full control after an eight-week campaign to drive out Kurdish YPG fighters.

The Turkish authorities often use the term "neutralized" to imply that the militants in question either surrendered or were killed or captured.

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