ANKARA: At least 13 militants were killed as Turkish military air strikes targeted areas associated with the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in northern Iraq, according to a statement released by the defense ministry on Friday.
The strikes, concentrated in the Hakurk region of northern Iraq and locations covered by Turkiye’s “Claw-Lock Operation,” aimed to neutralize PKK members. The defense ministry, in a message posted on the social messaging platform X, declared, “Our operations will continue with determination until there is not a single terrorist left in the region.”
The PKK, designated as a terrorist organization by the European Union, United States, and Turkiye, initiated armed conflict against the Turkish state in 1984. The protracted conflict has claimed the lives of more than 40,000 people.
Turkish Military Air Strikes Against PKK
Ankara has routinely conducted cross-border air strikes and military operations against the PKK, which maintains bases in the mountainous regions of northern Iraq. The recent escalation follows a bomb detonation near government buildings in Ankara on October 1, prompting Turkiye to intensify efforts against Kurdish militants in Syria and Iraq.
