Turkey declares 2 of its soldiers killed in Kurdistan Region

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The Turkish Defense Ministry announced on Saturday that two of its soldiers were killed during military operations against the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in the Kurdistan Region’s border areas.

An improvised explosive device (IED) exploded on one of the Turkish troops, killing a soldier immediately and wounding three others, said the ministry.

One of the soldiers succumbed to his wounds at the hospital later, the statement added.

Having been engaged in a decades-old bloody conflict, Turkey and PKK usually exaggerated their claims about the real number of their causalities. The Kurdistan 24 could not independently verify the figures.

Turkey’s military operations against its nemesis are within its Operation Claw-Lock which was announced in Duhok province in the Kurdistan Region’s border areas in April.

In addition to the operations, Turkey often conducts targeted killings of alleged PKK members via unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in the Kurdistan Region.  

As a result of two separate air strikes, Turkish forces had killed seven people in Chamchamal and Makhmour districts. The NATO-member’s spy agency later identified two of the slain individuals as top PKK commanders.

Iraqi and Kurdish officials regularly warrened Turkey to take their fights away from the border areas as it has endangered the livelihoods and safety of the civilians.

Edited by NA