Turkish airstrikes destroy 27 PKK targets in northern Iraq

ANKARA

Turkish security forces carried out retaliatory airstrikes destroying 27 PKK targets, including hideouts, caves and shelters in northern Iraq, the Defense Ministry has announced.

The operation was launched in response to a PKK terrorist attack on March 19 that killed a Turkish soldier and injured four others while attempting to infiltrate and attack a Turkish base in northern Iraq, where Türkiye is conducting Operation Claw-Lock.

The Turkish warplanes struck PKK positions in the Metina, Zap, Hakurk, Gara and Qandil regions in northern Iraq, according to a ministry statement. The jets reportedly destroyed 27 PKK targets, including caves, bunkers and shelters.

“We have not left the blood of any of our martyrs on the ground,” the ministry said in its statement.

The PKK is listed as a terrorist organization by Türkiye, the U.S., the U.K., and the EU.

Türkiye launched Operation Claw-Lock in April 2022 to target the PKK terror organization's hideouts in Iraq's northern Metina, Zap, and Avasin-Basyan regions near the Turkish border.

Last week, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan held high-level meetings with his Iraqi counterpart Fuad Hussein and other Iraqi officials to discuss the PKK’s presence in Iraq and measures to be taken against the terror organization.

A joint statement issued by the two countries said both sides had “stressed that the PKK terror organization represents a security threat to both Türkiye and Iraq” and that its presence in Iraq “represents a violation of the Iraqi constitution.”