mo4ch:>‘Destroy caves & shelters’: Turkey launches 2nd wave of military op against Kurdish PKK in Iraq | Mo4ch News

Ankara has launched military operation ‘Claw-2’, seeking to destroy PKK hideouts in northern Iraq. The move is part of Turkey’s bigger fight against Kurdish militants, which has taken a toll on its relations with Baghdad.The Turkish army began moving into northern Iraq at 10pm local time on Friday, after conducting airstrikes and shelling the area with artillery, the Defense Ministry said. The goal of this operation, codenamed ‘Claw-2’, is “to destroy caves and shelters” used by the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey and its NATO allies. The operation is a direct “follow-up” to ‘Claw-1’, launched by Ankara in Iraq’s Hakurk area in May.Turkey has been making military incursions into Kurdish-populated areas of northern Iraq and Syria over the past few years. Turkish officials say the operations are necessary to prevent the PKK militants from infiltrating across the border and attacking its troops and civilians.This tactics have put Anka…