Türkiye Kills Senior PKK Member in Iraq

On Monday, the Türkiye's Defense Ministry said it has killed the Iraqi communications head of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) during an operation in northern Iraq's Zap region.

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The PKK member was identified as Ferit Yuksel, codenamed "Serzan Mava." The responsible for providing communications in northern Iraq, was killed by Turkish commandos in a cave where he was hiding.

The Iraqi man was believed to be a top right-hand man of the PKK leader in Zap, codenamed "Siyabend," who was killed last year.

In May, another PKK communications official, Emre Sahin, codenamed "Rodi," was killed by Türkiye's National Intelligence Organization in a cross-border operation in northern Iraq.

Turkish security forces have recently intensified cross-border operations against the PKK in northern Iraq, particularly in the Qandil Mountains, the main base of the group, and killed several senior PKK cadres.

The PKK, listed as a terrorist organization by Türkiye, the United States and the European Union, has rebelled against the Turkish government for over three decades.

On Monday, the Turkish police also arrested 22 foreign nationals affiliated with the Islamic State (IS) group in an anti-terror operation across the capital Ankara.

Police conducted the operation to arrest 27 suspects over alleged links to the IS group, Anadolu said, citing security sources, adding that hunting for the remaining suspects is continuing.

Türkiye declared IS a terrorist group in 2013 following a string of deadly bombing attacks from the group in the country, killing and injuring scores of people. Since then, there have been regular arrests and detentions of suspected IS members by security forces in several cities.