“5 PKK/YPG members, who fired mortar shells towards the area of Operation Peace Spring, were neutralized by our fire support vehicles,” the statement said.

Turkish Defense Ministry uses the word “neutralized” in its statements instead of “killed”, ”captured” or “surrendered”.

Operation Peace Spring by the Turkish Armed Forces (TAF), was a cross-border military operation conducted by the Turkish military and the Syrian National Army (SNA) against the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) in northern Syria.

The military operation began on 9 October 2019 when the Turkish Air Force launched airstrikes on border towns.

The ongoing conflict between Turkey and PKK has resulted in nearly forty thousand deaths since 1984 when PKK waged an insurgency against the Turkish State.