ISTANBUL, Apr 23 (NNN-ANADOLU) – At least 45 members of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) have been killed, during Turkey’s new ground and air cross-border operation in northern Iraq, said Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, yesterday.
The operation also killed three Turkish soldiers, added Erdogan.
The “destruction of caves and other critical targets” in the region is still underway, the president noted, hoping that the operation will be “successfully completed with minimum loss.”
The Turkish military launched Monday, an operation dubbed Claw-Lock, against the PKK bases, including its shelters, caves, tunnels, and ammunition depots, in northern Iraq, after Turkey’s defence ministry claimed the PKK was found to be planning a large-scale attack in the country.
Turkey witnessed this week, a bus explosion that killed one in the north-western province of Bursa, and a stun grenade attack on the office of the Turkey Youth Foundation in Istanbul, both allegedly carried out by terrorist groups working for the PKK.
The PKK, listed as a terrorist organisation by Turkey, has been rebelling against the Turkish government for more than 30 years.
