Six Turkish soldiers were killed in clashes with Kurdish PKK fighters in northern Iraq, the Turkish Defense Ministry announced today. The soldiers came under fire "from the separatist terrorist organisation," the ministry said about the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).
"Operations continue in the Kurdish mountainous region in northern Iraq," the ministry added.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan also expressed his condolences to the families of the dead soldiers.
Since April 2022, Turkey has conducted the cross-border operation "Forked Sword" to eliminate insurgency positions in these mountainous and inaccessible areas.
On Wednesday, Turkish drone strikes killed two PKK members in that area, according to officials in the autonomous Kurdistan region, following a similar incident on Sunday.
The insurgency group has been fighting the Turkish authorities since 1984, and these conflicts have left tens of thousands dead. On the other hand, Ankara maintains dozens of illegal military bases in northern Iraq to conduct regular operations against Kurdish militants to eliminate their presence on its borders.
According to the Turkish ministry, 586 "terrorists" have been "neutralised" since the beginning of the year in Operation Forked Sword in northern Iraq.
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