Ankara, Dec 25 (IANS) Turkey’s National Intelligence Organisation (MIT) “neutralised” a senior member of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in Iraq, allegedly before an attack on the Turkish forces in the region.
Firat Serihan, who was wanted by Turkey, was ‘neutralised’ in a pinpoint strike in Iraq’s Gara region without specifying the time frame of the operation, Xinhua news agency reported quoting the semi-official Anadolu Agency reported on Wednesday, quoting anonymous Turkish security sources.
Turkish authorities often use the term ‘neutralise’ in their statements to imply the alleged terrorists have either surrendered, been killed, or been captured.
According to Turkish public broadcaster TRT, Serihan and other militants preparing to attack Turkish security forces in Gara were neutralised during the operation.
Serihan allegedly personally planned and directed attacks against Turkish security forces in northern Syria in 2016.
He is also accused of supplying weapons and ammunition to operatives seeking to carry out attacks in the Turkish military’s Pence-Kilit Operation Zone in northern Iraq.
The PKK, listed as a terrorist organisation by Turkey, the United States, and the European Union, has rebelled against the Turkish government for more than three decades.
Turkey regularly conducts military operations in northern Iraq, where the group has headquarters and hideouts.
Earlier on November 27, Turkey’s MIT neutralised a senior member of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in an operation in Iraq.
Sadiye Muhammed Ahmed, codenamed “Hevi,” was reportedly ‘neutralised’ in a pinpoint strike in northern Iraq’s Sinjar region. She had allegedly been active in the PKK’s activities in Syria and Iraq since 2001, according to the report.
In a separate operation by the Turkish military in northern Iraq targeting the PKK, eight other PKK members were killed in the Gara and Metina regions, the Turkish Defense Ministry said on Wednesday.
–IANS
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