Turkish airstrikes destroyed at least 20 PKK terrorist targets, eliminating senior terrorists in northern Iraq, the Defense Ministry said Monday.
In a statement, the ministry said Turkish jets targeted the PKK hideouts, shelters, caves, storage areas and other facilities used by the terrorists in Metina, Gara, Zap, Hakurk, Qandil and Asos regions.
Using domestically-made ammunition, the jets eliminated many terrorists, the ministry said, without specifying a number or the identities of the terrorists.
All precautions were taken to prevent any damage to innocent civilians, cultural and historical heritage and the environment, the ministry added.
Turkish forces “neutralized” at least 40,000 terrorists in total since 2015. The figures include those captured alive or surrendered, as Turkish authorities use the term “neutralized” to refer both to terrorists killed in operations and those injured and arrested.
In its nearly 40-year terror campaign against Türkiye, the PKK – listed as a terrorist organization by Türkiye, the U.S. and the EU – has been responsible for the deaths of more than 40,000 people, including women, children and infants.
The conflict with the PKK was long fought mainly in rural areas of southeastern Türkiye but is now more focused on the mountains of northern Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG)-administered region, where the PKK militants have their headquarters in Qandil. Türkiye has since 2019 conducted a series of cross-border operations in northern Iraq against the PKK, dubbed “Claw.”
Türkiye aims to wipe out the PKK from its borders and create an approximately 40-kilometer-deep security corridor along the Iraqi and Syrian borders.
Both MIT and the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) have since ramped up strikes on the “terror corridor” in the region, indicating a wider offensive may already be underway.
Ankara also wants Iraq’s cooperation in eradicating the terrorist group at its roots and signed a deal with Baghdad to set up joint security centers to combat the PKK in the region.
