Turkey 'neutralized' 170 YPG/PKK terrorists in N.Iraq since May

ANKARA

A total of 170 YPG/PKK terrorists have been “neutralized” since Turkey launched Operation Claw in northern Iraq this May, said the country’s National Defense Ministry on Wednesday.

“A total of 170 terrorists have been neutralized as part of Operation Claw, and 350 mines and handmade explosives have been identified and destroyed,” Lt. Cmdr. Nadide Sebnem Aktop, ministry spokeswoman, told reporters in the capital Ankara.

Turkish authorities often use the word "neutralized" to imply the terrorists in question surrendered or were killed or captured.

Aktop added that parts of a paraglider used by the terrorist group to attack Turkish forces was found in the Hakurk region.

Turkish forces seized a cave with 15 rooms and 400 kilograms of ammonium nitrate, scores of handmade explosives, electric fuses, and other materials, she stressed.

Highlighting that the operation crippled the terrorists' mobility by capturing key logistic facilities, she said the operation will continue until the last terrorist is "neutralized."

On May 27, Turkey launched Operation Claw against the PKK in the Hakurk region of northern Iraq, followed by its second and third phases in July and late August.

In its more than 30-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK -- listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and the EU -- has been responsible for deaths of 40,000 people, including women, children and infants. The YPG is the PKK's Syrian offshoot.

* Writing by Gozde Bayar