istanbul, turkey —
Turkey's military conducted airstrikes in northern Iraq and "neutralized" 17 members of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), the defense ministry said Monday.
Turkey, which typically uses the term neutralized to mean killed, has been carrying out a cross-border operation called Claw-Lock in Iraq as part of its offensive against the PKK militants.
The PKK, which has been waging an insurgency against the Turkish state since 1984, has been designated a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union.
Turkey has also launched military incursions in Syria against the Kurdish YPG militia, largely regarding it as a wing of the PKK.
