Istanbul The Turkish Ministry of Defense announced the killing of 13 PKK militants in air strikes carried out by Turkish warplanes in northern Iraq and Syria. The Turkish Defense Ministry stated in a statement on Tuesday that one of the Turkish army units stationed in the Lock the Claw operations area in northern Iraq spotted a gathering of PKK militants in a rugged mountainous area. The situation required the use of warplanes. Their raids on the area resulted in the killing of ten of them and the withdrawal of the others. It indicated in its statement that the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) takes Qandil Mountains in northern Iraq as its stronghold, and is active in many cities, regions and valleys, from which it launches attacks into the Turkish interior, and that the Turkish army is working hard to dry up the sources of terrorism. It is noteworthy that the Turkish army had carried out a large military operation on April 18, 2021, and it is still continuing, called Lock the Claw, against the strongholds o f the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in the areas of Matina, Gara, Hakurk, Al-Zab, Afshin, and Bazian in northern Iraq. On the other hand, the Turkish Defense Ministry stated in its statement that Turkish fighter aircraft also carried out raids on PKK positions in the Euphrates Shield and Peace Spring operations areas in northern Syria, resulting in the killing of 3 of the PKK militants. Source: National Iraqi News Agency