Turkey 'neutralizes' high-ranking PKK militant in northern Iraq

Turkish military forces have killed a high-ranking member of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) militant group during a counter-terrorism operation in Iraq’s northern semi-autonomous Kurdistan region.

Turkish sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said on Sunday that Diyar Garip Muhammed, better known by the nom de guerre Halmat Diyar, was “neutralized” during an offensive on June 27 in the Qandil Mountains.

The sources added that Muhammed was a member of the so-called executive council of the PKK, and its umbrella group, the Kurdish Communities Union (KCK).

The Turkish military generally uses the term “neutralize” to signify that the militants were killed, captured or they surrendered.

PKK militants regularly clash with Turkish forces in the Kurdish-dominated southeast of Turkey attached to northern Iraq.

Turkey, along with the European Union and the United States, has declared the PKK a terrorist group and banned it. The militant group has been seeking an autonomous Kurdish region since 1984.

SS