UPDATE - Türkiye ‘neutralizes’ 4 PKK/YPG terrorists in northern Syria

UPDATES WITH DETAILS OF SEIZED ARMS AND AMMUNITION, REVISES DECK, MAKES CHANGES IN BACKGROUND PLACES, ADDS MORE BACKGROUND

By Merve Berker

Turkish security forces "neutralized” four PKK/YPG terrorists in northern Syria, near the Turkish border, the National Defense Ministry said on Tuesday.

The terrorists, who were plotting an attack on Turkish soldiers, were targeted in the Operation Euphrates Shield zone, according to the ministry.

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 nearby Türkiye. The group also has a Syrian branch, known as the YPG.

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

Separately, Turkish soldiers also seized a large cache of arms and ammunition, communication materials, and survival supplies in a cave in northern Iraq in the Operation Claw-Lock zone, the ministry said.

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

The anti-terror operations came after last month’s PKK terror attack that killed 12 Turkish soldiers in northern Iraq. Since then, Turkish airstrikes have destroyed dozens of terror targets in northern Iraq and Syria, near the border, and neutralized several senior terrorists.

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.