The Turkish army has neutralized 18 YPG/PKK terrorists attempting to infiltrate northern Syrian territories, the National Defense Ministry said on Monday.

"Our heroic commandos neutralized 18 PKK/YPG terrorists trying to infiltrate the southern area of the [Operation] Peace Spring region," said the ministry, in an announcement on Twitter.

In an earlier statement Monday, the ministry announced that the military had neutralized 13 YPG/PKK terrorists in northwestern Syria.

"13 YPG/PKK terrorists plotting an attack on the Turkish elements in the area of [Operation] Euphrates Shield from Tal Rifaat [northwestern Syria] were neutralized in a successful operation," the Turkish ministry said on Twitter.

Turkey launched Operation Peace Spring, the third in a series of cross-border anti-terror operations in northern Syria targeting terrorists affiliated with Daesh and the PKK's Syrian offshoot the YPG, on Oct. 9 at 4 p.m.

The PKK – listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and the European Union – has waged a terror campaign against Turkey for more than 30 years, resulting in the deaths of nearly 40,000 people, including women, children and infants.

Turkey has long decried the threat from terrorists east of the Euphrates in northern Syria, pledging military action to prevent the formation of a "terrorist corridor" there.

Since 2016, Turkey's Euphrates Shield and Olive Branch operations in northwestern Syria have liberated the region from YPG/PKK and Daesh terrorists, making it possible for nearly 400,000 Syrians who fled the violence to return home.