Around 1,043 weapons were seized during Türkiye’s ongoing Claw-Key operation in northern Iraq in the past six months, the defense ministry announced on Sunday.
In a statement, the ministry said that within the scope of the operation, two SA-18 air defense missiles, 40 anti-tank missiles, 36 mortars, 106 RPG-7 rocket launchers, 22 grenade launchers, 50 docka anti-aircraft guns, 31 zagros sniper rifles, 85 PKMS machine guns, 519 AK-47 infantry rifles, 79 M-16 infantry rifle and 73 dragunov sniper rifle were seized, dealing a heavy blow to the PKK terrorist group.
"Our heroic Turkish Armed Forces dealt a great blow to the terrorist organization PKK in Zap with a relentless struggle that lasted for six months. Mehmetçik, who buried the terrorists in their caves, seized a total of 1043 weapons of different types in this process."
Turkish security forces regularly conduct counterterrorism operations in northern Iraq, a region where PKK terrorists have hideouts and bases from which to carry out attacks against Türkiye.
Türkiye has long been stressing that it will not tolerate terrorist threats against its national security and has called on Iraqi officials to take the necessary steps to eliminate the terrorist group. Ankara previously noted that it would not shy away from targeting terrorist threats if the expected steps were not taken.
In the last two years, the operations intensifying in northern Iraq have demolished terrorist lairs in Metina, Avashin-Basyan, Zap and Gara. After eradicating the organization's influence in these regions, Ankara also aims to clear Qandil, Sinjar and Makhmour.
The Qandil Mountains in northern Iraq are the PKK's stronghold and the group is active in many nearby cities and towns. It occupies a large number of villages in the region from where it launches attacks on Türkiye.
This April, Türkiye launched Operation Claw-Lock to target PKK hideouts in Iraq's northern Metina, Zap and Avashin-Basyan regions, near the Turkish border.
It was preceded by Operations Claw-Tiger and Claw-Eagle, which were launched in 2020 to eliminate terrorists hiding in northern Iraq and plotting cross-border attacks in Türkiye.
On the other side, the ministry also said that border guards caught two people trying to enter Türkiye illegally from Syria on the same day in southeastern Şanlıurfa province.
