Turkish soldier dies due to IED attack in Kurdistan Region
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Turkey's Ministry of National Defense announced on Saturday that one of its soldiers succumbed to his injuries during an operation in the Kurdistan Region.
— T.C. Millî Savunma Bakanlığı (@tcsavunma) August 26, 2023
The soldier, Erkan Selcuk, who was injured Friday, died from injuries sustained from an improvised explosive device (IED) planted by militants in the “Operation Claw-Lock zone.”
He later died at a hospital.
— T.C. Millî Savunma Bakanlığı (@tcsavunma) August 24, 2023
Also on Thursday, a Turkish soldier named Ali Demir, died from his injuries after suspected Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) fighters opened fire on him. His death took place during the visit of the Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan to the Kurdistan Region.
Turkey’s military operation against the PKK, against which it has been fighting since the mid-1980s, dubbed Claw-Lock Operation, targets the alleged position of the Kurdish militant groups in the Metina, Zap, and Avasin-Basyan regions inside Iraq’s Kurdistan Region.
Read More: Turkey says soldier died during anti-PKK operation in Kurdistan Region
Turkey has also continued its drone attacks on the alleged PKK targets in urban sites in the Kurdistan Region, where a number of the group’s militants have so far been assassinated.
Twin Turkish drone strikes killed seven alleged members of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) on Thursday, which also took place during the visit of the Turkish FM Hakan Fidan.
Turkey’s Claw-Lock Operation was preceded by two operations – Claw-Tiger and Claw-Eagle – launched in 2020 against the PKK.
The PKK and Ankara have been engaged in a conflict since the mid-1980s, resulting in the deaths of about 55,000 people.
Much of the conflict has been fought in the border areas of the Kurdistan Region, which has posed a risk to the civilian population.