ERBIL — Turkey's National Defense Ministry on Tuesday announced its forces "neutralized" at least 10 fighters of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in different places in the Kurdistan Region.

"Turkish security forces neutralized 10 PKK terrorists in northern Iraq," state media Anadolu Agency reported today, citing a statement from the country's Defense Ministry. "The terrorists were taken down in Qandil and Hakurk regions."

Turkish officials use the term "neutralize" to imply actions like killing or surrendering in the context of the country's military operations against the PKK.

Also on Tuesday, Turkey's National Intelligence Organization announced its forces "neutralized" the head of the PKK in the disputed Kurdish province of Kirkuk.

The decades-long conflict between Turkey and the PKK has profoundly impacted life in the Kurdistan Region, resulting in numerous civilian casualties, the displacement of thousands of villages, and the abandonment of multiple mountain resorts and thousands of acres of arable land.

In an overnight drone attack, Turkish security forces targeted a vehicle belonging to a PKK-affiliated group, resulting in the death of two fighters. This comes in the aftermath of the country's growing operations against the Kurdistan Workers' Party following a PKK's suicide attack on Ankara's national police headquarters in early October.