UPDATE 2 - Turkish Air Force targets terrorists in northern Iraq, Syria

ADDS MORE DETAILS

By Burak Bir and Beyza Binnur Donmez

ANKARA (AA) - The Turkish Air Force has struck terrorist targets belonging to the YPG/PKK in northern Iraq and parts of northern Syria, Turkiye's National Defense Ministry said early Wednesday.

The ministry announced in a statement that Operation Winter Eagle was carried out against terrorist hideouts in the Derik, Sinjar and Karachak regions.

During the operation, caves, shelters, and ammunition depots were targeted.

Warplanes, tanker aircraft, airborne early warning and control planes and unmanned aerial vehicles, which were taken off from six different bases, took part in the operations.

Around 60 aircraft participated in the operation, and nearly 80 targets in Syria's Derik and Sinjar, Karacak regions in Iraq were destroyed.

Operation Winter Eagle was launched in accordance with international law, Article 51 of the UN Charter and UN Security Council resolutions on the fight against terrorism, the ministry added.

Efforts to fight against terrorism for the security of the country and nation will decisively continue "until the last terrorist is neutralized," the statement noted.

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

Referring to the operation, Turkiye's Communications Director Fahrettin Altun said on Twitter that the country's strategy of eradicating terrorism at its source had made great contributions to border security, territorial integrity and national unity.

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

The PKK terrorist group often hides out in northern Iraq, just across Turkiye's southern border, to plot terrorist attacks in Turkiye.

In its more than 35-year terror campaign against Turkiye, the PKK -- listed as a terrorist organization by Turkiye, the US and the European Union -- has been responsible for the deaths of at least 40,000 people, including women, children and infants. The YPG is the PKK's Syrian offshoot.