ERBIL — Turkey's National Defense Ministry has announced that its forces have destroyed as many as 17 targets of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in the Kurdistan Region.

"Turkish security forces carried out air operations in northern Iraq, destroying 17 terror targets and neutralizing many terrorists," state media Anadolu Agency reported on Friday, citing a statement from the Turkish Defense Ministry.

The operations were carried out in the Gara, Metina, Hakurk and Qandil regions to eliminate terrorist attacks against Türkiye and its security forces from north of Iraq by neutralizing members of the PKK/KCK terror group and other terrorist elements and to ensure border security."

The statement detailed that these targets included "caves, bunkers, shelters and warehouses considered to be housing ringleaders of the terror group," also adding that "a large number of terrorists were also neutralized" During the operations.

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

The prolonged conflict lasting for decades between Turkey and the PKK has greatly influenced everyday life in the Kurdistan Region. It has resulted in a significant number of civilian casualties, the displacement of many villages, and the abandonment of numerous mountain resorts and extensive acres of arable land.

Last week, Turkey's National Defense Ministry claimed that their forces had "neutralized" at least 10 fighters from the Kurdistan Workers' Party in different locations in the Kurdistan Region.

These intensified military operations were prompted by a suicide attack on Ankara's national police headquarters in early October, for which the PKK took responsibility.