19 ISIL militants 'neutralized' in Syria: Turkish military

Some 19 Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militants have been neutralized as part of the ongoing Euphrates Shield operation in Syria, the Turkish Armed Forces announced on Jan. 10.

In a statement covering updates in the operation until 7 a.m., the military said shots were fired at some 340 ISIL targets, suppressing sanctuaries, defense positions, command centers and weapons belonging to the jihadists.

The military also added that Turkish warplanes also conducted an air operation on 27 ISIL targets in al-Bab, Bzagah and Suflaniyah, destroying sanctuaries, defense positions and weapons.

A total of 19 ISIL militants were neutralized in the operations conducted both on land and from air while three mortars, three armored vehicles and one cannon-mounted vehicle were destroyed, the military said.

Turkish authorities often use the word "neutralized" in their statements to imply that the person in question was either killed or captured.

A hand-made explosive was destroyed, adding to a total of 2,821 hand-made explosives and 43 mines destroyed since the launch of the operation in summer 2016.

On Aug. 24, 2016, the Turkish Armed Forces launched the Euphrates Shield operation with Free Syrian Army (FSA) fighters to clear the country's southern border of both ISIL and Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) forces, which Ankara considers as a terrorist group linked to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).