Turkiye neutralizes three PKK members in northern Iraq
Shafaq News/ The Turkish Ministry of Defense announced on Tuesday that three members of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) have been neutralized in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.
Turkiye uses
the term "neutralize" to indicate that a member has been killed or
captured.
“Within the
scope of the successful Claw-Lock Operation, 3 PKK terrorists detected in the
Metina region (Matin Mountain) were neutralized with an air operation.” The
Ministry said in a statement.
“…The
Turkish Armed Forces seized and destroyed a large number of weapons,
ammunition, IED devices, survival materials, and organizational documents
belonging to the terrorist organization PKK, which were hidden in a cave that
they detected during the search and sweep operation in the Pençe Operasyonlar
[Claw-Lock] region.” Another statement said.
The Turkish
forces have intensified their operations against the PKK in recent weeks in
Iraq and Syria, neutralizing approximately 60 members.
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.