ANKARA, June 8 (Xinhua) -- A total of 43 Kurdish militants have been "neutralized" since the Turkish military operation launched in northern Iraq in May, Turkey's Defense Ministry said in a statement on Saturday.
The Turkish Armed Forces launched the Operation Claw in northern Iraq's Hakurk region against the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) on May 27.
Turkish authorities often use the term "neutralized" to refer to deaths, but also to those wounded or captured.
Separately, the ministry said on the same day that Turkish fighter jets hit PKK targets in Avasin, Zap and Hakurk regions in northern Iraq, destroying shelters and ammunition depots belonging to the group.
The PKK, listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States, and the European Union, resumed its 30-year armed campaign against the Turkish state in July 2015 after a brief reconciliation period.
The Hakurk area facilitates Kurdish militants crossings between Qandil and Iraqi Salahaddin province bordering Syria, where the PKK's Syrian offshoot, the People's Protection Units (YPG), controls the northeastern one-third of the country.
