ANKARA, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- Turkish security forces destroyed 144 caves, shelters and hideouts used by the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in operations across 30 provinces over the past six months, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said Saturday.

Eighteen PKK militants surrendered during this period, Yerlikaya said on social media platform X.

He added that security forces seized a large quantity of weapons, including grenades, mines, RPG-7 rocket launchers, mortars, grenade launchers, pistols, shotguns, and 16,399 rounds of various types of ammunition.

He said that the operations were carried out by gendarmerie units, with support from special forces, commando units, village guards, as well as armed drones and attack helicopters.

The PKK, which has waged an armed campaign against the Turkish state since 1984, initially sought to create an independent Kurdish state but later shifted its demands toward greater autonomy and expanded rights for Kurds within Türkiye.

In a symbolic disarmament ceremony held in July in northern Iraq, PKK fighters began laying down their weapons, the first tangible step in the group's commitment to ending its armed insurgency.

The group's decision to disband came after its imprisoned leader Abdullah Ocalan, jailed since 1999, called on PKK members in February to convene a congress and formally end the armed struggle.

In August, a parliamentary committee in Türkiye began meetings to oversee a peace initiative aimed at ending the decades-long conflict with the PKK. ■