7 PKK terrorists neutralized in SE Turkey, N. Iraq
| DHA Photo


Turkish fighter jets "neutralized" four more PKK terrorists in northern Iraq, the Turkish National Defense Ministry said Monday.

On Twitter, the ministry said the terrorists were "neutralized" in the Zap and Metina regions as part of the airstrikes carried out in coordination with Operation Claw.

Authorities often use the term "neutralized" in statements to imply the terrorists in question surrendered or were killed or captured.

The airstrikes also destroyed weapon emplacements and shelters used by PKK terrorists, according to the ministry.

On May 27, Turkey launched Operation Claw against the PKK in the Hakurk region of northern Iraq. Operation Claw aims to prevent the infiltration of PKK terrorists onto Turkish soil from Hakurk and to spoil the settlement plans of militants in the area.

The Hakurk area facilitates terrorist crossings between Qandil and Iraq's Salahaddin province bordering Syria, where the PKK's Syrian offshoot, the People's Protection Units (YPG), controls the northeastern third of the country.

Meanwhile, in the rural Çukurca district of Hakkari in southeastern Turkey, Provincial Gendarmerie Command neutralized three terrorists, the Ministry of Interior said on Monday.

Operations in the region continue, it added.

It was also reported that a most-wanted PKK terrorist was among the killed terrorists in the southeastern Şırnak province on Sunday.

Two terrorists had been killed in Turkey's southeastern Şırnak province, as the Interior Ministry said on Sunday.

In the statement, the ministry said gendarmerie forces carried out an air-backed operation near Gabar Mountain in Şırnak.

In a separate statement later, the ministry said among those targeted was a wanted PKK terrorist, identified Mehmet Şirin Arslan.

Arslan, code named "Cektar," had a TL 300,000 bounty on his head.

He was on the grey category of Interior Ministry's wanted terrorists list.

The wanted list is divided into five color-coded categories, with red as the most wanted, followed by blue, green, orange and gray.

In its more than 30-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK -- listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and the EU -- has been responsible for the deaths of some 40,000 people, including women and children.