Shafaq News/ The Turkish Armed Forces have seized ammunition and supplies from Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) hideouts in northern Iraq and neutralized 15 PKK-affiliated militants in ongoing operations in both Iraq and Syria, the Turkish Defense Ministry reported on Friday.
In a statement, the ministry detailed that Turkish forces discovered and destroyed a large amount of weaponry and survival materials in a cave and shelter identified within the Claw-Lock Operation area in northern Iraq. The seized items included “six rounds of 107 mm MLRA ammunition, eight booby-trapped 81 mm mortar rounds, 12 mortar carrying capsules, a box of ammunition for a DShK machine gun, and a large cache of supplies and cleaning materials.”
The ministry also reported the elimination of 11 militants affiliated with the PKK and the People’s Protection Units (YPG) in the Euphrates Shield and Peace Spring regions in northern Syria, as well as four PKK militants in northern Iraq’s Claw-Lock area.
The Defence ministry pledged to "continue our operations with determination and resolve until not a single terrorist remains!”
The PKK, designated a terrorist organization by Turkiye, the United States, and the European Union, has been engaged in an armed struggle against the Turkish state since the 1980s, seeking greater autonomy for the Kurdish population in Turkiye. This decades-long conflict has led to tens of thousands of deaths, with Turkiye conducting cross-border military operations to target PKK strongholds in Iraq and YPG positions in Syria, both of which Ankara views as extensions of the PKK.