Senior PKK member killed in Sinjar

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Turkey’s National Intelligence Organization (MIT) announced on Friday that its forces killed a senior Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) member in a drone operation in the Sinjar district of the Kurdistan Region, according to a statement the agency published.

The PKK member was identified as Ilyas Biro Eli (nom de guerre Ciya Fekir). He was accused of assassinating security forces and civilians, as well as attacking the Bashiqa-Zilkan Turkish military base.

“We will continue to strike terrorist positions in Iraq or Syria," the statement read, while warning, “We will not compromise on our country's security.”

The attack in Sinjar follows an Ankara bomb attack on Oct. 1, which the PKK had claimed responsibility for.

This news comes as Iraqi Defense Minister Thabet al-Abbasi arrived in Ankara on Wednesday for high-level security talks regarding the PKK and Ankara’s continuing military operations in Iraq.

The PKK and Ankara have been engaged in a bloody military conflict since the mid-1980s, resulting in the deaths of about 55,000 people.

Bolstered by its advanced drone industry, Turkey has ramped up its drone strikes in recent years, particularly in the urban centers of Iraq and the Kurdistan Region, to target suspected PKK positions.

Kurdistan Region officials regularly call on Baghdad, officially in charge of border security affairs, to prevent insurgents and foreign militaries from engaging in hostilities within its territory. Officials have voiced concerns about the increasing presence of foreign militia forces in the area.

Much of the conflict has been fought in the border areas of the Kurdistan Region, which has endangered civilian populations.