ISTANBUL, January 15. /TASS/. The Turkish army has eliminated 77 militants of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK, banned and recognized by Ankara as a terrorist organization) as a result of operations carried out in northern Iraq and Syria since January 12, Turkish Defense Minister Yasar Guler said.

"As a result of air operations in northern Iraq and Syria, 78 targets of the terrorist organization were destroyed, including shelters, hideouts, oil facilities, as well as 77 terrorists," the TRT Haber TV channel quoted the minister as saying.

The defense official also said that the fight against the PKK would continue "until the last terrorist is eliminated."

The operations in Iraq and Syria began after Kurdish militants attacked a Turkish military post in northern Iraq on January 12, killing nine soldiers.

Turkish authorities describe the PKK as a major threat to national security. The country’s army regularly conducts operations against Kurdish militants in northern Iraq and Syria and maintains a large group of troops in the region.