ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Turkish forces killed five members of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in military operations in the east of the country, the interior minister said on Thursday.
The military operations took place on Wednesday in the Dogubayazit district of Agri province and in Palamut village in the Hasankeyf district of Batman province.
“5 terrorists have been neutralized,” Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said on X.
PKK-affiliated media reported that the operation in Palamut village left two people dead and two injured. The report did not confirm that the dead and injured were members of the PKK.
A “temporary military security zone” has been imposed in Hasankeyf district, banning public access to the area, the Batman governor’s office announced. It will remain in place until July 3.
There is no statement from the PKK about the clash at the time of writing.
Though there are occasional clashes between Turkish forces and the PKK within Turkey’s borders, the conflict has primarily shifted to the northern Kurdistan Region in recent years. According to the International Crisis Group, almost all PKK fatalities from Turkish military attacks in 2024 have been within Iraq’s borders.
Turkish armed forces carried out over 800 attacks on the Kurdistan Region and Nineveh province Iraq so far in 2024, according to a human rights organization that monitors Turkey's operations in the Kurdistan Region.
Reporting by Didar Abdalrahman
