Operations Claw-Lightning and Thunderbolt

Operations Claw-Lightning and Thunderbolt
	Part of the Kurdish–Turkish conflict
Date	23 April 2021 – 17 April 2022; (11 months, 3 weeks and 4 days)
Location	Metina, Zap and Avashin Basyan regions, Duhok and Erbil Governorate, Kurdistan Region, Iraq
Belligerents
Turkey Kurdistan Region (from 6 June 2021)	Kurdistan Workers' Party
Commanders and leaders
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan; Hasan Küçükakyüz; Ali Özmen; Hulusi Akar; Yaşar Güler; Nechirvan Barzani	Cemîl Bayik ; Murat Karayılan Sofi Nurettin †
Units involved
Turkish Armed Forces Turkish Air Force; Turkish Land Forces; Ministry of the Interior Gendarmerie General Command; Peshmerga; Zeravani; Asayish;	KCK HPG;
Strength
Unknown personnel; 50 aircraft including F-16s C/D; F-4 Terminator; KC-135 Stratotanker; Boeing 737 AEW&C; T129 ATAK; CH-47 Chinook; UH-60 Black Hawk; Bayraktar TB2; TAI Anka; Unknown	Unknown
Casualties and losses
21 killed (per Turkey) 6 killed; 7 wounded; 2 captured	142 killed or captured (per Turkey)

Claw-Lightning and Claw-Thunderbolt (Turkish: Pençe-Şimşek ve Pençe-Yıldırım Operasyonları) were Turkish Armed Forces cross border military operations in northern Iraq. The operations took place in the Metina, Zap and Avashin-Basyan regions against Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) targets, as part of the ongoing Kurdish–Turkish conflict.