Türkiye has "neutralised" a total of seven PKK/YPG terrorists in northern Iraq and Syria, Türkiye's National Defence Ministry has said.

"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 on Sunday.

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.

Successful anti-terror operations

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 en able the peaceful settlement of residents: Euphrates Shield (2016), Olive Branch (2018), and Peace Spring (2019).

In its nearly 40-year terror campaign against Türkiye, the PKK — listed as a terrorist organisation 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 Syrian branch of the PKK.