Turkish intel ‘neutralizes’ senior PKK/KCK terrorist in northern Iraq

By Selma Kasap

The Turkish intelligence agency has “neutralized” a senior PKK/KCK terrorist in northern Iraq responsible for the youth section of the terror group, security sources said on Monday.

The National Intelligence Organization (MIT) carried out a cross-border anti-terror operation to catch Gulsun Silgir, codenamed Sara Hogir Riha, who was responsible for carrying out terror acts since 2011, including deceiving young people to join the PKK, said the sources on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on speaking to the media.

It was further determined that she has been active in Iraq’s Sulaymaniyah region since 2021.

She was targeted in the Penjwin district in the Iraqi countryside of Sulaymaniyah, the sources added.

Turkish authorities use the term "neutralize" to imply the terrorists in question surrendered or were killed or captured.

PKK terrorists often hide out in northern Iraq to plot cross-border attacks in Türkiye.

Türkiye launched Operation Claw-Lock in April 2022 to target the terrorist PKK's hideouts in Iraq's northern Metina, Zap, and Avasin-Basyan regions near the Turkish border.

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 Merve Berker