Turkey's Defense Minister: 480 PKK has been "neutralized" since launching Claw-lock

Shafaq News/ Turkey's defense minister, Hulusi Akar, on Sunday said that his country's military has "neutralized" 480 members of the anti-Ankara Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) during the ongoing Operation Claw-lock in the north of the Kurdistan region.

Turkish authorities use the term "neutralize" to imply that "the terrorists in question surrendered, were killed, or captured."

Speaking in a meeting at the Turkish military advanced headquarters near the borders with Iraq, Akar said that 13 PKK fighters has been "neutralized" in the past two days.

Operation Claw-Lock is an ongoing military operation of the Turkish Armed Forces in northern Iraq. The operation is taking place in the Duhok Governorate against the Kurdistan Workers' Party, as part of the ongoing Kurdish–Turkish conflict.

The Turkish Armed Forces have been conducting cross-border military operations against the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in Northern Iraq since the 1980s. Since 2019, Turkey has begun conducting operations codenamed Claw, including Claw Eagle and Tiger in 2020 and Claw-Lighting and Thunderbolt in 2021.

According to Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar, the current operation targets positions in the areas Metina, Zap, and Avashin and is carried out in cooperation with their allies.