Turkey says it 'neutralized' 9 PKK fighters in latest raids inside Kurdistan Region
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The Turkish military said on Sunday that its warplanes “neutralized” nine Kurdistan Workers’ Party members in its latest raids inside the neighboring Kurdistan Region.
This comes two days after the launch of the third phase of Turkey’s so-called “Operation Claw” military campaign, which the army began in May to stamp out PKK fighters operating within the harsh mountainous areas of the region.
The military has said that Duhok Province’s Sinat-Haftanin, or Batifa subdistrict, would be the location of the latest phase while the first and second phases took place in the Hakurk area, north of Qandil, where the PKK’s headquarters is located.
Related Article: Turkey begins 'Operation Claw 3' against PKK in Kurdistan’s Duhok province
Ankara said in a statement that latest air raid was part of "Operation Claw 3," but did not specify the exact date of the attacks. It went on to note that hideouts and weapons storage areas were also destroyed.
The statement claimed that Turkish warplanes had “neutralized” nine PKK fighters in the Haftanin area, using the term Turkish officials routinely use to indicate that an individual has been killed, incapacitated, or captured.
The PKK is engaged in a decades-long insurgency against Turkey over Kurdish rights and self-rule in a conflict that has resulted in the death of over 40,000 people on both sides.
Turkish bombing in the Qandil Mountains and sprawling border areas has become commonplace since the peace process between the PKK and Ankara collapsed in 2015.
In the past year, Turkey has carried out military operations against PKK fighters based in the Kurdistan Region with continued regularity, crossing into the region up to 20 kilometers deep in some areas to target the guerilla group.
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Rural residents and the environment continue to suffer from the clashes, including multiple civilian deaths and other casualties. Locals and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) have repeatedly asked the PKK and the Turkish government to take their fight elsewhere.
Videotaped confessions released last month by security forces in the Kurdistan Region show suspects, arrested for the recent highly-publicized assassination of a Turkish diplomat in Erbil, claiming that the shooting was planned and carried out by PKK members.
Editing by John J. Catherine