Turkiye neutralizes three PKK members in northern Iraq
Shafaq News/The Turkish Ministry of Defense announced on Tuesday that three members of theKurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) have been neutralized in the Kurdistan Region ofIraq.
Turkiye usesthe term "neutralize" to indicate that a member has been killed orcaptured.
“Within thescope of the successful Claw-Lock Operation, 3 PKK terrorists detected in theMetina region (Matin Mountain) were neutralized with an air operation.” TheMinistry said in a statement.
“…TheTurkish Armed Forces seized and destroyed a large number of weapons,ammunition, IED devices, survival materials, and organizational documentsbelonging to the terrorist organization PKK, which were hidden in a cave thatthey detected during the search and sweep operation in the Pençe Operasyonlar[Claw-Lock] region.” Another statement said.
The Turkishforces have intensified their operations against the PKK in recent weeks inIraq and Syria, neutralizing approximately 60 members.
The PKK,designated a terrorist organization by Turkiye, the United States, and theEuropean Union, has been engaged in an armed struggle against the Turkish statesince the 1980s, seeking greater autonomy for the Kurdish population inTurkiye. This decades-long conflict has led to tens of thousands of deaths, withTurkiye conducting cross-border military operations to target PKK strongholdsin Iraq and YPG positions in Syria, both of which Ankara views as extensions ofthe PKK.
