ANKARA: At least 45 members of the banned Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) were killed during Turkey's current land and air cross-border operation in northern Iraq, said Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The operation also killed three Turkish soldiers President said.  Erdogan added that the "destruction of caves and other critical targets" in the region is still ongoing, with the hope that the operation will be "effectively finished with minimal casualties."

The Turkish military initiated Operation Claw-Lock in northern Iraq on Monday, targeting PKK strongholds, including shelters, caves, tunnels, and weapons stores, after the Defense Ministry alleged that the PKK was organising a large-scale strike in the country.

A bus explosion in Bursa, Turkey's northern region, killed one person, as did a stun grenade attack on the Turkey Youth Foundation's Istanbul headquarters, both allegedly carried out by PKK-affiliated terrorist groups.

Turkey has designated the PKK as a terrorist organisation, and it has been fighting the Ankara government for more than 30 years.

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