ISTANBUL: Turkish military carried out airstrikes in northern Iraq killing 17 members of the banned Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), the defence ministry said on Monday.
Turkiye has been conducting a cross-border operation in Iraq as part of its offensive against PKK militants.
The PKK has been waging an insurgency against Turkiye since 1984. Turkiye and most of its Western allies including the United States and European Union, have declared PKK as a terror organization. The PKK has bases in northern Iraq from where it conducts attacks into Turkiye.
Turkiye started Operation Claw-Lock in April 2022 to secure its border with its southern neighbor. It involved Ankara assaulting the Kurdish group within Iraq itself, where Turkiye also maintains dozens of military bases.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on July 13 announced the operation’s end saying Kurdish forces to be “completely trapped” in both Syria and Iraq. Ankara’s incursions into Iraq have strained bilateral relations with Baghdad.
