Turkish air strikes kill 13 Kurdish militants in northern Iraq -ministry

The PKK, which is considered a terrorist organisation by the European Union, United States, and Turkey, took up arms against the Turkish state in 1984 and more than 40,000 people have been killed in the conflict. Ankara frequently carries out cross-border air strikes and operations against the PKK, which has bases in the mountains of northern Iraq.

Turkey's military carried out air strikes in northern Iraq and killed 13 Kurdish militants, the defence ministry said on Friday. In a statement on social messaging platform X, the ministry said 13 Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants were hit in air strikes in the Hakurk region of northern Iraq, as well as areas where Turkey conducts its "Claw-Lock Operation".

"Our operations will continue with determination until there is not a single terrorist left in the region," it said. The PKK, which is considered a terrorist organisation by the European Union, United States, and Turkey, took up arms against the Turkish state in 1984 and more than 40,000 people have been killed in the conflict.

Ankara frequently carries out cross-border air strikes and operations against the PKK, which has bases in the mountains of northern Iraq. Turkey has intensified attacks on Kurdish militants in Syria and Iraq in recent weeks after militants detonated a bomb near government buildings in Ankara on Oct. 1.