Turkiye neutralizes three PKK members in northern Iraq

Shafaq News/ The Turkish Ministry of Defense announced on Tuesday that three members of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) have been neutralized in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.

Turkiye uses the term "neutralize" to indicate that a member has been killed or captured.

“Within the scope of the successful Claw-Lock Operation, 3 PKK terrorists detected in the Metina region (Matin Mountain) were neutralized with an air operation.” The Ministry said in a statement.

“…The Turkish Armed Forces seized and destroyed a large number of weapons, ammunition, IED devices, survival materials, and organizational documents belonging to the terrorist organization PKK, which were hidden in a cave that they detected during the search and sweep operation in the Pençe Operasyonlar [Claw-Lock] region.” Another statement said.

The Turkish forces have intensified their operations against the PKK in recent weeks in Iraq and Syria, neutralizing approximately 60 members.

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, both of which Ankara views as extensions of the PKK.