The Turkish military destroyed PKK terrorists’ shelters, hideouts and caves in newly launched Operation Winter Eagle in northern Iraq, Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said Wednesday.
In a statement, the minister said numerous wanted terrorists, including senior figures, were killed in the operation.
The Turkish military launched the operation against the PKK and its Syrian offshoot, the YPG, terrorists in northern Iraq and Syria, in response to the security threat directed toward the people and security forces, and to ensure border security, a statement by the Defense Ministry said.
The operation is being carried out in Sinjar, Iraq and northern Syria's Derik and Mount Karachok, where the terrorists' bases are located.
All fighter jets safely returned to their bases following the operation, the ministry said, and added that extensive security precautions have been taken to prevent any harm to civilians.
Meanwhile, Presidential Communications Director Fahrettin Altun said on Twitter that the country's strategy of eradicating terrorism at its source has contributed greatly to border security, Turkey's territorial integrity and national unity.
The PKK, blacklisted as a terrorist group by Turkey, the United States, the European Union and many other countries, has been waging an insurgency against the Turkish state since 1984.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who has pledged to "clean up" parts of northern Iraq, has said that the PKK is using the mountainous border area as a springboard for their terrorist attacks.
Turkish forces routinely conduct military strikes against PKK hideouts in the area.
In December, the National Defense Ministry had said that three Turkish soldiers died in a PKK terrorist attack in northern Iraq, prompting a retaliatory airstrike at the time.
Turkey launched its latest major air and ground offensive in April last year, targeting rear bases that PKK terrorists have used to wage their decadeslong insurgency that has claimed tens of thousands of lives.
Turkey also has a military presence in neighboring Syria, where it has seized swathes of territory in successive military operations since 2016 that have mostly targeted the Daesh and the YPG terrorist group.
