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Turkey kills top female PKK operative in Iraq

November 28, 2019 at 2:46 pm

Turkey’s intelligence services have killed a prominent female operative of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in an operation in the northern Iraqi town of Sinjar, Anadolu Agency has reported today. The PKK is listed as a terrorist organisation by the government in Ankara.

Beraat Afşin had been on Turkey’s list of “most-wanted” terrorists for a long time; she joined the PKK in 1997. The Turkish authorities had also announced a four million lira ($693,000) reward for her capture.

The killing of Afşin was part of Turkey’s Operation Claw, which it launched against the PKK in northern Iraq in May this year. A key aspect of the operation has been the use of armed drones to conduct targeted strikes against the group’s members.

This method utilises information gathered by Turkish intelligence agents. It was first proven to be effective when it hit the convoy of PKK commander Zaki Shingali, also in Sinjar, and killed him in August last year.

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