Credit: Stringer/Reuters

Turkish Counter-Terrorism Operations Yield Major Successes

The Turkish Ministry of Defense reported the killing of five members of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in the Kurdistan area. In a statement noted by the Anadolu Agency, the ministry revealed that the three militants were killed in the Kara region of the Kurdistan Region, affirming that

“Turkish forces will persist operations until terrorism is eliminated at its source.”

A Turkish drone struck a vehicle linked with the Sinjar Resistance Units, which are devoted to the PKK, on Mount Sinjar. Additionally, the Kurdistan Region’s Counter-Terrorism Group (CTG) reported the elimination of three PKK members, including a senior leader, in a Turkish drone strike conducted on Saturday.

Turkiye leads operations against the PKK, which targets its forces and nationals and is active in several countries, including Iraq, Syria, and Iran. A week ago, Turkish security forces offset 16 PKK/YPG terrorists in northern Iraq and Syria, the National Defense Ministry reported. According to the ministry, 10 PKK terrorists were hit in northern Iraq’s Gara and Hakurk regions. In comparison, six PKK/YPG terrorists were annihilated in northern Syria, within the operational zones of Euphrates Shield and Olive Branch.

The ministry reaffirmed Ankara’s obligation to fight terrorism, promising to continue

“until the last terrorist is neutralised.”

“There is no escape from the end that awaits the terrorists,”

the ministry commented. Türkiye employs the term “neutralise” to imply that the terrorists were either killed, captured, or abandoned.

In 2022, Türkiye undertook Operation Claw-Lock to hit the terror group’s hideouts in northern Iraq’s Metina, Zap, and Avasin-Basyan regions. Since 2016, Ankara has also performed three significant anti-terror procedures in northern Syria—Euphrates Shield (2016), Olive Branch (2018), and Peace Spring (2019)—aimed at containing the formation of a terror passage and ensuring the resettlement of displaced residents.

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