Turkish soldier killed in latest operation against PKK in Kurdistan Region

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The Turkish National Defense Ministry announced on Monday that one of its soldiers was killed in its latest cross-border operation against the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in the Kurdistan Region. 

Lieutenant Commander Omer Dilbash was wounded by an improvised explosive device (IED) allegedly planted by the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), the ministry announced. He was then rushed to hospital but succumbed to his injuries. 

The 32-year-old officer was from Turkey's Hakkari province, where his funeral procession was held. 

Mere hours after it launched its latest cross-border operation, codenamed Claw-Lock, Turkey announced that four of its soldiers had been wounded. It also said it "neutralized" 19 PKK militants. 

The Turkish Army uses the term "neutralized" to refer to enemy combatants it either killed, injured, or captured. 

Kurdistan 24 could not independently verify the figures released by the ministry. 

Iraq on Monday strongly condemned the military incursion into the country, charging that it has violated its sovereignty and is against the principles of "good neighborliness". 

Operation Claw-Lock is an air and ground campaign targeting suspected PKK positions in the mountainous areas of Duhok province, particularly in the Metina, Avasheen, Zab, and Basian areas. 

Operation Claw-Lock succeeds Operations Claw-Lightning and Thunderbolt, launched in 2021, and Operations Claw-Eagle and Tiger, launched in 2020, against the PKK in many of the same areas.  

At least 40,000 people have been killed in the Turkish-PKK conflict since it began in 1984.