ANKARA (Dispatches) – Turkish troops launched a new offensive in northern Iraq and “neutralized” at least 18 Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) militants as part of Turkey’s ongoing controversial incursion.
The Turkish Defense Ministry said the operation was carried out on Saturday by combat drones in the region, adding that Turkish forces are determined to continue fighting terrorists.
Turkish authorities use the term “neutralize” to imply the militants surrendered or were killed or captured.
The incursion has angered the Iraqi government.
Baghdad says Turkey’s ongoing operation against members of PKK militant group in the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region is not being carried out under any agreement with the Baghdad government.
Last week, Turkey announced its latest cross-border incursion into Iraq, codenamed Operation Claw-Lock. The air-and-ground military attacks target suspected PKK positions in the Zab, Basiyan, Avasheen, and Korajiwar districts in the Kurdistan Region.
The Iraqi government summoned the Turkish ambassador, Ali Riza Guney, and handed him a “strongly worded” protest note over the offensive, and called the operation a blatant violation of its sovereignty.
Earlier this year, the Iraqi anti-terror Kata’ib Hezbollah group, which is part of the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) or Hashd al-Sha’abi, denounced the Turkish military strikes on Kurdistan region, calling on the Ankara government to withdraw its forces from the Arab country before it gets “too late.”
Kata’ib Hezbollah, in a statement released on February 5, demanded that Turkish authorities stop repeated violations of Iraq’s sovereignty and deadly raids on ordinary people and fully withdraw Turkish forces from Iraqi soil.
“Our patience has reached its limit. Disregard for the loss of our compatriots’ lives and violations of the state sovereignty were the last straw,” the statement read.