The Ministry of National Defense announced Thursday that 16 more terrorists were “neutralized” in northern Syria, near the Turkish border, in new operations. “Neutralized” is a term used to describe terrorists killed or captured alive in the operations.
Operations against the terrorist group the PKK, its Syrian offshoot YPG, continue unimpeded.
The ministry shared drone footage of several buildings and other places struck during the Tal Rifat and Manbij operations. The number of terrorists “neutralized” in the region rose to 57 with the latest counterterrorism operation, the ministry said.
Since 2016, Türkiye has launched a trio of successful anti-terror operations across its border in northern Syria to prevent the formation of a terror corridor and enable the peaceful settlement of residents: Euphrates Shield (2016), Olive Branch (2018) and Peace Spring (2019).
The PKK terrorist group has escalated its attacks on Türkiye and recently killed two Turkish soldiers in northern Iraq following what it called a “period of inaction” during the run-up to last month’s presidential and parliamentary elections. The group had pinned its hopes of survival on Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, the head of the Republican People’s Party (CHP) and the main opposition’s presidential runner, before he lost to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in a historic runoff on May 28. Several PKK ringleaders hailed Kılıçdaroğlu against Erdoğan, calling his run “a historic opportunity to generate the push we want,” and claimed their terrorism inaction would stay in place until after the vote, which seems to have been removed with Erdoğan’s reelection.
On Sunday, the group fired five rockets from neighboring Syria that landed on a police station in the Öncüpınar district of bordering Kilis province, as well as the Cibrin Base in the area where the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) conducted Operation Euphrates Shield. No casualties were reported. However, security measures have been increased in the region.
The YPG/PKK uses the Qandil Mountains in northern Iraq as its stronghold, from where it devises and launches attacks on Türkiye and nearby cities and towns. The YPG is its U.S.-backed Syrian affiliate. Ankara has led intensifying efforts to crack down on YPG/PKK elements at home and abroad for years, managing to eliminate thousands of terrorists and regain territory in Türkiye’s southeast, ravaged by PKK violence for years.
Since 2016, three key cross-border operations have stamped out terrorist elements in northern Syria and Iraq to near extinction, taking out tens of thousands of PKK/YPG members and clearing large swaths of territory to resettle locals. Türkiye also launched Operation Claw-Lock last year in April to target the terrorist group PKK’s hideouts in the Metina, Zap and Avasin-Basyan regions of northern Iraq.
It was preceded by two operations – Claw-Tiger and Claw-Eagle – launched in 2020 to root out terrorists hiding in the north of Iraq and plotting cross-border attacks in Türkiye. Most recently, Ankara launched Operation Claw-Sword to decimate YPG targets in Syria in retaliation for a deadly terrorist attack in Istanbul last November.
