ANKARA, Aug. 25 (Xinhua) -- A total of 24 Kurdish fighters were "neutralized" and three Turkish soldiers killed in security operations inside Turkey and in northern Iraq, the Turkish Defense Ministry said Sunday.
"A total of 11 terrorists within Turkey and 13 beyond borders were neutralized during air operations," said a ministry statement, referring to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) members.
"Neutralize" is the word Turkish authorities use in their statements to imply that the militants in question surrendered, were killed or were captured.
Turkey launched on Friday a new military operation, dubbed Operation Claw-3, in northern Iraq against the PKK militants based there.
"Three soldiers have been killed and seven others wounded in clashes on Sunday as part of the latest operation," a separate ministry statement said.
The PKK is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the EU, as the conflict between Ankara and the PKK since the early 1980s has claimed the lives of 40,000 people.
