Twelve PKK terrorists were eliminated in Iraq's north in an aerial operation, the Defense Ministry announced on Monday.

The airstrike took place in the Hakurk region, a hotbed of PKK activity. The ministry said in a statement that the operations would continue until the last terrorist is eliminated.

On Sunday, the ministry announced that three PKK members were eliminated in Syria's north.

Northern regions of Iraq and Syria, two southern neighbors of Türkiye, are the last remaining bastions of the terrorist group, which lost its clout in Türkiye's southeast, where it killed thousands over the past decades.

Monday's airstrike is the biggest yet in terms of the number of eliminated terrorists in recent memory. The ministry also shared a video of the operation, showing fighter jets taking off an airbase, followed by aerial video of targets struck by jets.

Hakurk was among the Iraqi regions in which Türkiye lost 21 soldiers in two separate attacks by the terrorists in December and January.

Since Jan. 1, 2024, Türkiye has eliminated a total of 286 PKK terrorists who often hide out across the border in northern Iraq and plot terrorist attacks on its soil, as well as over 390 members of the group's Syrian affiliate, the YPG, in northern Syria.

Turkish forces "neutralized" at least 40,000 terrorists in total since 2015. The figures include those captured alive or surrendered, as Turkish authorities use the term "neutralized" to refer both to terrorists killed in operations and those injured and arrested.

In its nearly 40-year terror campaign against Türkiye, the PKK – listed as a terrorist organization by Türkiye, the U.S. and the EU – has been responsible for the deaths of more than 40,000 people, including women, children and infants. The PKK/YPG has occupied a chunk of the country's northeast since 2015 with military support from the U.S.

The conflict with the PKK was long fought mainly in rural areas of southeastern Türkiye but is now more focused on the mountains of northern Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdistan region, where the PKK militants have their headquarters in Qandil. Türkiye has since 2019 conducted a series of cross-border operations in northern Iraq against the PKK, dubbed "Claw," the latest of which is the ongoing "Claw-Lock."

Türkiye has upped its airstrikes on PKK targets and warned of a new incursion after the terrorists carried out three attacks on Turkish forces and killed 22 soldiers in the region in the last four months.

The PKK is not designated a terrorist organization in Iraq but is banned from launching operations against Türkiye from Iraqi territory. It nevertheless has a foothold in northern Iraq's semi-autonomous north controlled by the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), where the central Iraqi government has little influence.

Iraq has said Turkish operations violate its sovereignty, but Ankara says it is protecting its borders and that operations are based on its right to self-defense guaranteed by international law and "concerning sovereignty rights and territorial integrity of our neighbors." The intention is to establish a 30 to 40-kilometer security corridor to secure its southern borders completely.

Ankara is seeking Baghdad's cooperation in quelling the last of the terrorist group. In a promising move, Iraq acknowledged the PKK as a security threat to both Türkiye and itself after talks between Turkish and Iraqi foreign ministers in Baghdad recently.

Ankara also says it is alarmed about logistical or political support for the PKK, which seeks to legitimize its presence through political parties and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in northern Iraq.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who implied a major cross-border operation in Iraq against PKK earlier, will visit Baghdad on April 22 and joint counterterrorism efforts with Iraq will likely be on the agenda of his visit.