ISTANBUL

Turkish security forces "neutralized" a total of seven PKK/YPG terrorists in northern Iraq and Syria, Türkiye's National Defense Ministry said on Sunday.

"Our heroic Turkish Armed Forces neutralized 3 PKK/YPG terrorists detected in the Euphrates Shield and Peace Spring zones in northern Syria and 4 PKK terrorists detected in the Operation Claw-Lock zone," the ministry wrote on X.

Türkiye in 2022 launched Operation Claw-Lock to target the terror group PKK's hideouts in northern Iraq's Metina, Zap, and Avasin-Basyan regions.

The terrorist PKK is known for using northern Iraq, near the Turkish border, as a hideout to plot terror attacks and for launching attacks both on nearby Türkiye and locals in northern Syria.

Since 2016, Ankara has launched a trio of successful anti-terror operations across its border in northern Syria to prevent the formation of a terror corridor and enable the peaceful settlement of residents: Euphrates Shield (2016), Olive Branch (2018), and Peace Spring (2019).

Turkish authorities use the term “neutralize” to imply the terrorists in question surrendered or were killed or captured.

In its nearly 40-year terror campaign against Türkiye, the PKK — listed as a terrorist organization by Türkiye, the US, and the EU — has been responsible for the deaths of more than 40,000 people, including women, children, and infants. The YPG is the PKK’s Syrian offshoot.