Türkiye has eliminated a so-called intelligence operative of the terrorist group PKK in northern Iraq's Sulaymaniyah region, security sources said Sunday.
The National Intelligence Organization (MIT) had been closely monitoring the activities of terrorist Hasan Seburi, codenamed "Redur Baz," the sources said on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on speaking to the media.
It was found that he joined the terror group from Iran in 2023 and was trained to carry out intelligence gathering, reconnaissance and surveillance activities against Türkiye.
MIT "neutralized" the terrorists in a cross-border anti-terror operation in the Sulaymaniyah region, the sources said.
Turkish authorities use the term "neutralize" to imply the terrorists in question surrendered or were killed or captured.
The MIT operation comes as nine Turkish soldiers were killed in action and four others were injured in an attack by the PKK in northern Iraq, where Türkiye has been conducting Operation Claw-Lock against the terrorists.
Clashes broke out after the terrorists attempted to infiltrate the operation area, the Defense Ministry said Friday.
It followed two separate attacks on Turkish bases in the same region when a dozen Turkish soldiers were killed.
Ankara has operated several dozen military posts in the area for the past 25 years in its decades-old fight against the PKK, which has massacred over 40,000 civilians since the 1980s.
Türkiye launched Operation Claw-Lock in April 2022 to target the PKK terrorist group's hideouts in the Metina, Zap and Avasin-Basyan regions of northern Iraq, near the Turkish border. Two operations preceded it – Claw-Tiger and Claw-Eagle – launched in 2020 to root out terrorists hiding north of Iraq and plotting cross-border attacks in Türkiye.
The Turkish army aims to cut off supplies and the operational area for the terrorist group, whose leadership hides in the Qandil Mountains, which became the PKK's main headquarters in the 1990s after the Bekaa Valley of Lebanon.
Since then, Türkiye has launched several land operations into the mountainous region to destroy the PKK hideouts, including in the mid-1990s when the group increased its attacks and infiltration attempts on border towns, and as recent as 2019 with the Operation Claw series.
Turkish airstrikes in the Qandil area have been more frequent in recent years due to the immediate security risks of ground operations.
MIT, however, operates a network of field agents in the area and often conducts precision operations on more specific and high-profile PKK targets thanks to improved capacity.
Türkiye also battles the YPG, PKK’s Syrian offshoot, in northern Syria.
