Turkish forces kill 4 Kurdish fighters in northern Iraq airstrike

Turkish forces kill 4 Kurdish fighters in northern Iraq airstrike
The Turkish army has released footage showing an airstrike in northern Iraq, which killed four alleged PKK fighters.
2 min read
12 July, 2021
Turkey routinely strikes PKK targets within Iraq [Getty Images]

The Turkish military said in a statement on Monday that its forces killed at least four Kurdish fighters in northern Iraq.

"Our heroic Turkish Armed Forces continue to destroy the terror nests in northern Iraq. Four PKK terrorists, who were identified in the Zap region, were neutralised in an air operation," the defence ministry said on Twitter.

The PKK, or the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, is considered a terrorist organisation by Ankara.

Both sides have been embroiled in a conflict for decades, and Turkey has routinely carried out attacks in Iraq’s northern Kurdish region against PKK targets.

In April, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan dubbed the latest offensive Operation Claw-Lightning.

Erdogan said the offensive was designed "to completely end the presence of the terror threat … along our southern borders".

"There’s no room for the separatist terror group in the future of Turkey, Iraq or Syria," Erdogan said in reference to the Kurdish fighters.

"We will keep on fighting until we eradicate these gangs of murderers who cause nothing but tears and destruction."

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