Two ringleaders of the PKK terrorist group were eliminated by Türkiye's National Intelligence Organization (MIT) in northern Iraq, security sources said Sunday.

MIT conducted operations targeting Caize Selber, code-named "Berfin Roj," and Emine Ulaş, code-named "Tekoşin Dilgeş." Both had close ties to high-ranking terrorists within the terror outfit. The two terrorists, active in the group since 1991, extorted the local population under the guise of taxation and used the collected funds to recruit personnel for attacks against Turkish security forces. They also provided logistical support to the terrorist group and encouraged young recruits to join it.

Both terrorists, wanted with search records and listed as targets by MIT, were eliminated in an operation in the rural area of Sulaymaniyah in northern Iraq.

The PKK, which has massacred over 40,000 people in Türkiye in a four-decadelong terror campaign, is not designated a terrorist organization in Iraq but is banned from launching operations against Türkiye from Iraqi territory.

Since Turkish operations have driven its domestic presence to near extinction, the PKK has moved a large chunk of its operations to northern Iraq.

Ankara maintains dozens of military bases there, and it regularly launches operations against the PKK, which uses a stronghold in the Qandil Mountains, located roughly 40 kilometers (25 miles) southeast of the Turkish border in Irbil.

The PKK also occupies Sinjar, Makhmour and has a foothold in Sulaymaniyah, which sits in northern Iraq’s semiautonomous north controlled by the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), where the central Iraqi government has little influence.

Türkiye often criticizes the PKK gaining footing in Sulaymaniyah and warns that "further measures" would be taken if the city’s administration continues to tolerate terrorists.

Collaboration between the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) in the KRG and the PKK in Sulaymaniyah risks spillover of the terrorist group's violent campaigns to the wider region. The PUK stands accused of giving more freedom of movement both in the city and rural parts of Sulaymaniyah to the PKK. The PKK, not recognized as a terrorist group in Iraq, seeks to legitimize its presence through political parties and nongovernmental organizations in Türkiye's southern neighbor. In rural Sulaymaniyah, it intimidates the local population by setting up "checkpoints" and through extortions and kidnappings.

The terrorist group's activities hindered efforts for infrastructure improvements in some 800 villages in northern Iraq and disrupted local farmers' access to their lands, according to Iraq's Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG). Further east of Sulaymaniyah, the PKK is also involved in drug smuggling and the smuggling of goods on the Iran-Iraq border. In central Sulaymaniyah, the terrorist group is affiliated with several organizations, from Tevgera Azadi, a political association, to the Kurdish Women's Research Library and Academy. The PUK issues IDs exclusive to its counterterrorism units to PKK members, helping them to move easily around the city and beyond. The PUK's assistance to the PKK also helps the latter build a strategic "bridge" with the YPG, the terrorist group's Syrian wing. The PUK is also behind military training for YPG members who cross into Iraq from northern Syria. The scope of the PUK and PKK cooperation further became evident with a 2023 helicopter crash. Nine people killed in the collision in Iraq's Duhok were found to be PKK members. Moreover, PUK leader Bafel Talabani sent his counterterrorism chief to the funerals of terrorists in Syria's north a week after the crash.

The prime minister of the KRG, Masrour Barzani, highlighted that Türkiye's fight in the region was against the PKK terrorist group. In an interview with the Irbil-based K24 television channel, Barzani addressed Türkiye's military operations against the PKK presence in Iraq. "Türkiye is fighting against the PKK, not against us. The existence of the PKK is the reason for this war," Barzani said. "If the PKK claims to represent the Kurdish people, it should put an end to this war." Pointing to the PKK's refusal to recognize the KRG, Barzani emphasized that the terrorist group prevents locals from accessing their villages and fields. "The PKK sees itself as the ruler of these areas, extorts our people, creates problems for us and kidnaps our youth," he said. Highlighting this is not a one-sided issue, Barzani said the KRG had prevented the conflict from deepening. "If it were up to the PKK, it would extend the war to Duhok, Zaho and other cities. The Peshmerga (forces) has established a line to prevent further incursions from the PKK," he said. "Right now, because the war continues in hundreds of our villages, we are unable to provide services. The PKK does not listen to us in any way."

KRG President Nechirvan Barzani was in Türkiye last Friday where he met President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan. Sides discussed bilateral ties as well as the threat by PKK to Iraq and Türkiye. Erdoğan stressed the need to continue cooperation against terrorism during their meeting, sources said.