ANKARA

Four terrorists, including two so-called senior members, were neutralized Monday in northern Iraq in a joint operation by Turkish intelligence and armed forces, according to security sources.

The National Intelligence Organization (MIT) decided to launch an operation after learning that ammunition and terrorists would be sent from Syria to Iraq to support PKK terrorists fighting Turkey’s anti-terrorist Operation Pence-Simsek, said the sources, who asked not to be named due to restrictions on speaking to the media.

After finding the terrorists in rural areas of the Duhok province, the MIT and the Turkish Armed Forces neutralized them in an air operation.

Turkey launched Operations Pence-Simsek and Pence-Yildirim last month in the Metina and Avasin-Basyan regions in northern Iraq.

The separatist terrorist group PKK often uses bases in northern Iraq, just across Turkey’s southern border, to hide out and plot terror attacks in Turkey.

In its more than 35-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK – listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the US, and the EU – has been responsible for the deaths of at least 40,000 people, including women, children, and infants.

*Writing by Sena Guler​​​​​​​