By Sinan Uslu

ANKARA

In an air-backed operation in southeastern Turkey, the Turkish Armed Forces on Thursday killed two PKK terrorists who were on the Interior Ministry’s wanted list, the military announced.

In a statement on Friday, the Turkish General Staff said Asli Ozkaya, codenamed “Aze Malazgirt,” and Rahmi Ayhan, codenamed “Herekol Heset,” were killed in the Sirnak province’s Bestler-Dereler region.

The Turkish Armed Forces killed the two PKK terrorists, on Thursday, who were on the Interior Ministry’s wanted list, the military announced.

Five improvised explosives were also destroyed during an ongoing operation in the Avasin-Basyan region of northern Iraq, the statement added.

In a separate statement, the military said shelters, weapon pits, arms and ammunition depots were destroyed during an air-backed operation in the Hakurk and Avasin-Basyan region of northern Iraq.

In another counter-terrorism operation in eastern Siirt province, three PKK terrorists were killed, according to the provincial governor’s office.

Later on Friday, a source from Turkish security forces said an additional three PKK terrorists were killed in an ongoing operation in the Bestler-Derelerg region of the Sirnak province.

Two of them -- identified as Kader Tatli, codenamed “Dirok,” and Emine Akyuz, codenamed “Ekin Kerboran” -- are believed to be so-called officials of the terrorist group, said the source, who asked not be named due to restrictions on speaking to the media.

The PKK is listed as a terrorist organization in Turkey, the U.S., -and the EU. In its over three-decade terror campaign against Turkey, more than 40,000 people have been killed.

Since the group resumed its armed campaign in July 2015, more than 1,200 people, including security force personnel and civilians, have lost their lives.