At least five Turkish soldiers have been killed and eight others wounded in an attack by militants of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in northern Iraq, media reports said on Saturday.
VOA quoted the Turkish Defence Ministry as saying: “Clashes broke out after the terrorists attempted to infiltrate the Operation Claw-Lock region on Friday.”
Three of the soldiers injured in the attack were in critical condition, the ministry said, adding the injured troops were airlifted to Turkish military hospitals. One of the wounded soldiers later succumbed to his injuries.
At least 12 PKK terrorists were killed in retaliation for the attack, the ministry added.
Last month, two separate attacks on Turkish bases in northern Iraq had left a dozen soldiers. dead
Ankara has operated several dozen military posts in the area for the past 25 years in its decades-old fight against the PKK.
Turkey launched Operation Claw-Lock in April 2022 to target the PKK terrorist group’s hideouts in the Metina, Zap and Avasin-Basyan regions of northern Iraq, near the Turkish border.
Two operations preceded it – Claw-Tiger and Claw-Eagle – launched in 2020 to root out terrorists hiding north of Iraq and plotting cross-border attacks in Turkey.
The Turkish army aims to cut off supplies and the operational area for the terrorist group, whose leadership hides in the Qandil Mountains.
Turkish airstrikes have frequently hit the Qandil area in the last decades, but ground operations have been scarce due to immediate security risks.
kk/mud
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