Türkiye’s National Intelligence Organization (MIT) carried out an operation in Iraq’s north and eliminated a senior member of the PKK terrorist group, security sources said Wednesday while Interior Minister said gendarmerie troops eliminated three terrorists in southeastern Türkiye.

MIT’s target was Sariye Atilla, or "Rozerin Şemzinan," as she was also known. Atilla was in charge of the PKK members in Iraq’s Hakurk region.

Atilla, who joined the terrorist group in 2007, was also a trainer in the PKK’s so-called "academies" for new recruits. MIT’s field agents located her recently and were surveilling Atilla before she was "neutralized," a term used by authorities to describe terrorists killed or captured alive.

The Turkish intelligence agency stepped up its operations against the PKK in Iraq and Syria in recent years as the terrorist group expanded its clout in two countries neighboring Türkiye, although number of terrorists within Türkiye significantly dropped.

In 2022 alone, 23 senior figures of the terrorist group backed by the United States in Syria were eliminated in MIT’s operations in the two countries, while many PKK members were brought to Türkiye.

In its over 40-year terror campaign against Türkiye, the PKK – listed as a terrorist organization by Türkiye, the U.S. and the European Union – has been responsible for the deaths of 40,000 people, including women and children.

The Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) also regularly conduct cross-border operations in northern Iraq. In this region, the PKK terrorists have hideouts and bases from which they carry out Türkiye attacks.

Türkiye launched Operation Claw-Lock last year in April to target the PKK terrorist group’s hideouts in the Metina, Zap and Avasin-Basyan regions of northern Iraq, located near the Turkish border. As part of it, hundreds of terrorists have been eliminated.

It was preceded by two operations – Claw-Tiger and Claw-Eagle – launched in 2020 to root out terrorists hiding in northern Iraq and plotting cross-border attacks in Türkiye.

Also on Wednesday, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya announced that three terrorists who were on the wanted list of his ministry were "neutralized" in the southeastern province of Diyarbakır. Another terrorist was captured in the southeast province of Şırnak. Yerlikaya said three terrorists were cornered by commandos in a rural part of Diyarbakır and eliminated in an operation. Among the eliminated terrorists were Nazım Hikmet Ülgen, Onur Kamiloğlu and Muhammed Gönyeli. Yerlikaya said terrorists were involved in several PKK attacks, including a bomb attack targeting a military vehicle that killed a gendarmerie specialist sergeant and wounded three others in Diyarbakır. They were also behind a rocket attack targeting troops guarding the construction site of a military outpost. In Şırnak, Hasan Binbir was captured in an operation by gendarmerie troops. Binbir was the driver of a car bomb before it exploded at a police checkpoint in Şırnak, killing a police officer and injuring five others.