Turkish intelligence 'neutralizes' PKK terror group's ringleader in northern Syria

By Huseyin Cam Dagistanli

ANKARA (AA) - Turkish intelligence has "neutralized" a so-called ringleader of the PKK terror group in northern Syria, security sources said on Friday.

Fatma Sakana, who joined the terrorist organization in Iran in 2006, operated in the rural areas of the Turkish province of Sirnak between 2010 and 2012.

One of the perpetrators of the Sept. 2, 2012 attack in Sirnak that killed 10 Turkish soldiers, Sakana later became a senior figure of the terror group in Syria and Iraq. She also collaborated with Duran Kalkan, another ringleader of the PKK, in Iraq.

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

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 Alperen Aktas in Istanbul