Türkiye deals serious blow to regional terrorism as part of Operation Pence

The Turkish Armed Forces have dealt a powerful blow to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) - terrorist organisation  over three years as part of Operation Pence (Operation Claw).

The first Pence operation was carried out in the Hakurk region in northern Iraq in 2019, Anadolu reports.

Then several operations were carried out in Sinat-Haftanin, Metina, Avasin-Basyan and Zap districts.

To date, 1,441 PKK terrorists have been killed within Pence operations.

The last stage of the Operation, called Pence-Kilic (Claw-Sword), started in northern Syria and Iraq on the night of November 20.

"Türkiye has launched a new security concept to combat the terrorist threat," Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in a statement.

The country's armed forces began to destroy terrorist positions in northern Iraq one by one, he added.

The Turkish Armed Forces carried out the Pence-Kilic military air operation against the PKK terrorists in northern Iraq and Syria on the night of November 20.

In the first stage, 81 terrorist bases were destroyed, while on November 20 morning - eight terrorist bases, the message said.

Among the destroyed facilities were shelters, weapons depots, so-called headquarters, as well as terrorist training camps.

Many terrorists, including the leaders of a criminal gang, were killed as part of the operation.

The air Operation Pence-Kilic was successful in Qandil, Asos, Hakurk in northern Iraq, as well as in Ayn al-Arab, Tell Rifaat, Cizre and Derik in northern Syria, which are used by terrorists as bases for attacks on Türkiye.

The domestically produced ammunition was mainly used during the operation. The Turkish Air Force aircraft successfully completed the tasks and returned to their bases, the message said.