国际英语新闻:Turkish army says Syria's Afrin under "full control"

ANKARA, March 24 (Xinhua) -- Syria's Afrin region has been taken under "full control" as part of ongoing Operation Olive Branch, the Turkish military said on Saturday.

Turkish General Staff said in a statement that all villages located in the Afrin region were cleared of terrorists.

Search operation for mines and improvised explosive devices around the region is underway.

On Saturday, Turkish Chief of General Staff Hulusi Akar said at a conference in Ankara that the army will arrive in the suburb of Aleppo called Nubl-Zahra.

A total of 3,733 terrorists have been killed or captured since the start of the Operation Olive Branch in Afrin region, according to the military.

Numerous informative leaflets in the Kurdish and Arabic languages were distributed to civilians in the area, local media reported.

The efforts to help Syrian civilians return home is undergoing, said the army.

On Sunday, The Turkish troops and Free Syrian Army fighters took control of the Afrin town center, the strategic Kurdish-held town in northern Syria.

Turkey launched Operation Olive Branch on Jan. 20 to clear the People's Protection Units (YPG), which Ankara considers a terror group affiliated to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) from northwestern Syria.