Turkiye kills four PKK members, seizes weapons in Iraq and Syria

Shafaq News/ Turkiye’s Ministry of Defense reported, on Wednesday, that four members of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) were killed in military operations in Iraq and Syria, along with the discovery and destruction of significant PKK weapon stockpiles in the Kurdistan Region.

The ministry stated that Turkish forces killed two PKK members in the "Operation Claw-Lock (Pençe-Kilit)" area in Kurdistan and eliminated two more in the "Operation Euphrates Shield (Fırat Kalkanı)" zone in northern Syria, detailing that "Turkish soldiers, while conducting sweeps in the Claw-Lock region, uncovered large caches of weapons and ammunition linked to the PKK, which were subsequently destroyed."

Among the seized items, according to the statement, were anti-tank weapons, sniper rifles, scopes, automatic rifles, pistols, and a variety of ammunition.

Turkiye had initially launched Operation Claw-Lock on April 17, 2022, aimed at neutralizing PKK strongholds in areas including Matina, Zap, and Avashin-Basyan within Kurdistan, as part of ongoing efforts to curb PKK activities in the area.

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.