Türkiye’s National Intelligence Organization (MIT) “neutralized” Celal Birdal, code-named Sidar Serhat, in the latest operation against the PKK terrorist group in Iraq.
Authorities announced on Wednesday that Birdal, who was working as a “press and archives official” for the terrorist group, was wanted for a string of terrorist attacks. He was based in northern Iraq’s Gara, a mountainous region. “Neutralized” is an official term used by Türkiye to describe terrorists killed or captured alive. In most operations abroad though, most terrorists are recovered dead.
Security sources said Birdal was involved in attacks targeting Turkish security forces in the Zap and Hakurk regions in Iraq’s north, sometimes as an assailant and sometimes as commander of PKK units. MIT agents tracked down Birdal and discovered he was looking to send fellow terrorists to Türkiye to carry out terrorist attacks. Birdal was eliminated, along with an unspecified number of other terrorists accompanying him, security sources said.
Birdal was an engineering student in Türkiye’s Konya province when he joined the youth wing of the terrorist group. Later, he traveled to Syria and Iraq, the regions where the terrorist group has bastions. In Iraq, he underwent weapons training and earlier, was in charge of the group’s “logistics.” He also educated new recruits of the terrorist group on the PKK’s ideology, security sources said.
The Turkish intelligence agency has stepped up its operations abroad in recent years to stamp out terrorist activities in Iraq and Syria, Türkiye’s two southeastern neighbors.
In 2022 alone, 23 senior figures of the terrorist group backed by the United States in Syria were eliminated in MIT’s operations in the two countries, while numerous PKK members were brought to Türkiye.
In its over 40-year terror campaign against Türkiye, the PKK – listed as a terrorist organization by Türkiye, the United States and the European Union – has been responsible for the deaths of 40,000 people, including women and children.
The Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) also regularly conduct cross-border operations in northern Iraq, a region where PKK terrorists have hideouts and bases, from where they carry out attacks in Türkiye.
Türkiye launched Operation Claw-Lock last year in April to target the PKK terrorist group's hideouts in the Metina, Zap and Avasin-Basyan regions of northern Iraq, located near the Turkish border.
It was preceded by two operations – Claw-Tiger and Claw-Eagle – launched in 2020 to root out terrorists hiding out in northern Iraq and plotting cross-border attacks in Türkiye.
