The National Intelligence Organization (MIT) has eliminated a senior member of the PKK terrorist group responsible for Iraq’s northern Sinjar region.

According to security sources quoted by Anadolu Agency (AA) on Friday, the terrorist Saad Ali Bedel, code-named "Ceko Pir," had participated in attacks against the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) while also organizing acts against MIT in the Sinjar region.

Bedel was followed by a special MIT team and it was found that he hid among the Yazidi people. After receiving intelligence that Bedel was planning a new attack on the TSK's Bashika base in Mosul, MIT eliminated the terrorist in an operation while paying the utmost attention not to harm civilians that Bedel was using as a shield.

TSK regularly conducts cross-border operations in northern Iraq, a region where PKK terrorists have hideouts and bases from which to carry out attacks against Türkiye.

Türkiye has long been stressing that it will not tolerate terrorist threats against its national security and has called on Iraqi officials to take the necessary steps to eliminate the terrorist group. Ankara previously noted that it would not shy away from targeting terrorist threats if the expected steps were not taken.

In the last few years, the operations intensifying in northern Iraq have demolished terrorist lairs in Metina, Avashin-Basyan, Zap and Gara. After eradicating the group's influence in these regions, Türkiye also aims to clear Qandil, Sinjar and Makhmour.

The Qandil Mountains in northern Iraq are the PKK's stronghold and the group is active in many nearby cities and towns. It occupies a large number of villages in the region from where it launches attacks on Türkiye.

The PKK terrorist group managed to establish a foothold in Sinjar in mid-2014 on the pretext that it was protecting the local ethnic Yazidi community from Daesh. Since then, the PKK has reportedly established a new base in the area for its logistical and command-and-control activities besides its main headquarters in the Qandil Mountains in northern Iraq, capitalizing on Iraq’s internal divisions.

Sinjar is wedged between Türkiye to the north and Syria to the west, making it a highly strategic zone long coveted by both the central government in Baghdad and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in the north.