Türkiye eliminates 12 terrorist, PKK/YPG commander in N.Iraq

The Turkish military killed 12 PKK terrorists in northern Iraq, the Defense Ministry said Saturday. 

The ministry, in a statement on social media platform X, said the terrorists were targeted in the Metina region during Operation Claw-Lock.

Turkish Armed Forces will resolutely demolish terrorist hideouts, it added.

 Leader of PKK terrorist group's Syrian wing killed

Türkiye’s National Intelligence Organization (MIT) eliminated a so-called leader of the PKK terrorist group's Syrian wing, the YPG, in northern Syria, security sources said Friday.

The organization eliminated Halil Tekin, code-named "Seydo," in an intelligence-based operation in Syria's Qamishli region, according to security sources who spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to speak to the media.

MIT was monitoring the terrorist's activities and movements before the targeted operation, the sources said.

Tekin joined the PKK/YPG terrorist organization in 2007 and has carried out terrorist activities in Syria and Iraq.

The terrorist's father, Ibrahim Tekin, who was also a member of the terrorist organization, was eliminated during an operation carried out by the Turkish Armed Forces in 1992.

Also on Friday, the Turkish Defense Ministry said security forces, in an air-backed operation, eliminated four PKK terrorists in the northern Iraqi region of Qandil where the terrorist group has a stronghold.

Türkiye launched Operation Claw-Lock in April 2022 to target the terrorist organization's hideouts in northern Iraq's Metina, Zap, and Avasin-Basyan regions near the Turkish border.

In its more than 35-year terror campaign against Türkiye, the PKK – listed as a terrorist organization by Türkiye, the U.S. and the European Union – has been responsible for the deaths of over 40,000 people, including women, children and infants.

Source: Newsroom