The Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) has conducted air raids in the Gara and Zap regions of northern Iraq against terrorist targets in coordination with the ongoing Operation Claw, the military said early Thursday.
At least three PKK terrorists were killed in the airstrikes, the Defense Ministry said in a statement.
The airstrikes come amid Turkey's Operation Peace Spring in northern Syria, which targets terrorists affiliated with Daesh and the PKK's Syrian offshoot the People's Protection Units (YPG).
The operation aims to establish a terror-free safe zone in the area east of the Euphrates River controlled by the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which is dominated by YPG terrorists.
The PKK — listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and the European Union — has waged a terror campaign against Turkey for more than 30 years, resulting in the deaths of nearly 40,000 people, including women, children and infants.
Turkey has long decried the threat from terrorists east of the Euphrates in northern Syria, pledging military action to prevent the formation of a "terrorist corridor" there.
Since 2016, Turkey's Euphrates Shield and Olive Branch operations in northwestern Syria have liberated the region from YPG/PKK and Daesh terrorists, making it possible for nearly 400,000 Syrians who fled the violence to return home.
