The Turkish Ministry of Defense announced the killing of 17 PKK militants in air strikes carried out by Turkish warplanes in northern Iraq and Syria. The Turkish Defense Ministry stated in a statement today, Monday, that the Turkish army units stationed in the areas of Matina and Gara, within the areas of Claw Lock operations, in northern Iraq, had monitored gatherings of Kurdistan Workers' Party militants in rugged mountainous areas. The situation required the use of warplanes, and their raids on the area resulted in the killing of 14 of them and the others withdrew. It indicated in its statement that the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) takes the 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 continuin g, called Claw Lock, against the strongholds of 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 Peace Spring operations area in northern Syria, resulting in the killing of three of the PKK militants. Source: National Iraqi News Agency