Türkiye so far neutralized over 500 terrorists as part of Operation Claw-Lock

ANKARA

Since the cross-border operation started last April, Türkiye has neutralized a total of 506 terrorists so far as part of Operation Claw-Lock in northern Iraq, the National Defense Ministry said Saturday.

The ministry organized a media tour of the anti-terror operation area – just across the Turkish border into Iraq, an area terrorists use as a hideout – which includes difficult weather and terrain conditions. Reporters saw terrorist elements being hit from the border line from a hill at an altitude of approximately 2,050 meters (6,726 feet).

Reporters were told that 575 terrorist caves, bunkers, and shelters have been destroyed and over 2,000 mines/handmade explosives, 1,182 weapons, and nearly 540,000 pieces of ammunition seized.

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

It was preceded by two operations – Claw-Tiger and Claw-Eagle – launched in 2020 to root out terrorists hiding out in northern Iraq and plotting cross-border attacks in Türkiye.

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

* Writing by Gozde Bayar