Turkish intelligence claims it killed top PKK commander in Sulaimani

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The Turkish National Intelligence Organization (MIT) claimed that it killed a top Kurdistan Workers’ Party commander (PKK) in late May, the country’s state media announced on Thursday.

A drone targeted a civilian car carrying five people on May 21 in the Aghjaral subdistrict of Chamalchamal, Sulaimani province, resulting in the deaths of all the passengers. 

Read More: Turkish airstrike kills several people in an airstrike near Chamchamal in the province of Sulaimani

The Turkish agency said that it had killed Memet Dogan, also known as “Dilhaz Gabar,” responsible for the Kurdish militants’ “Kirkuk front,” the Turkish news site Anadolu Agency reported. 

Chamchamal is located to the east of the Kirkuk province. 

The PKK has not responded to the Turkish claims so far. 

Turkey also carried out another drone strike in Makhmour’s refugee camp, located in the south of Erbil province, on the same day as the Chamchamal attack. Two people were killed in a car inside the camp, the Turkish MIT declared. 

The Turkish state media later identified one of the killed passengers as the head of the group’s “Sulaimani, Kirkuk, and Makhmour” operations. 

Read More: Turkey killed top PKK commander in Makhmour drone strike: Intelligence agency

Makhmour and Kirkuk have become “safe harbors” for the militants, the Turkish news agency said.  

The PKK and Ankara have been locked in an armed conflict since the mid-1980s, resulting in the deaths of thousands. Much of the bloody conflict has taken place in the border areas between the Kurdistan Region of Iraq and Turkey. 

The Kurdistan Region authorities have frequently called on both the warring sides to take their fight away from Iraq’s autonomous region as it has displaced hundreds of villagers. 

Civilians in the border areas frequently become victims of airstrikes or improvised explosives devices (IEDs).