ANKARA, Aug. 21 (Xinhua) -- The Turkish military "neutralized" a total of eight "terrorists" in operations in northern Iraq and northern Syria, the country's Defense Ministry said Wednesday.
The Turkish forces killed seven members of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in the Hakurk region of northern Iraq, said the ministry in a statement, without specifying the time frame of the operations.
Turkish authorities often use the term "neutralized" in their statements to imply the "terrorists" in question surrendered, were killed, or were captured.
On Tuesday, the ministry announced that one Turkish soldier was killed in northern Iraq as a result of the explosion of an improvised explosive device planted by the PKK.
In a separate operation in northern Syria, the Turkish forces killed one member of the Syrian Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) in the "Operation Olive Branch" zone of the military, the ministry also said.
Türkiye sees the YPG group as the PKK's Syrian branch.
The PKK, listed as a terrorist organization by Türkiye, the United States, and the European Union, has rebelled against the Turkish government for more than three decades. ■
