ANKARA (Xinhua) – Four Turkish soldiers were killed in a clash with militants of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in northern Iraq, the Turkish defense ministry said Monday.
The clash took place on Sunday when Turkish security forces were conducting a mission in a region where Turkey was carrying out a cross-border operation, according to a ministry statement.
Two soldiers were killed and four others injured in the clash with PKK militants in the Operation Claw-Lock zone, but two of the four injured later died at the hospital.
Meanwhile, Vedat Aksac, who was a member of the PKK’s “assassination team,” and two other members of the group were killed in the Turkish incursion in Khalifan, a town in the northern Iraqi province of Erbil, state-run TRT broadcaster reported Monday.
The PKK, listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, has been rebelling against the Turkish government for more than three decades.
The Turkish forces frequently carry out ground invasions, airstrikes and artillery bombardments against the group’s positions in northern Iraq, especially the Qandil Mountains, the main base of the PKK.
In April, the Turkish army launched a new ground and air cross-border operation, dubbed Claw-Lock, against the PKK targets in the Metina, Zap and Avasin-Basyan regions of northern Iraq.
Baghdad has repeatedly condemned Ankara’s ongoing military operations in the region.
Iraqi resistance groups have also warned Turkey of the consequences of its incursions into their country.
Back in July, Turkey carried out a strike against the Iraqi hill village of Parakh in the Zakho district of Dohuk province, killing at least nine tourists, including children and women, and wounding more than 20 others.
Authorities in Iraq say that the attack was carried out by Turkish forces and that they are responsible for the deaths and injuries of Iraqi civilians, while Ankara says the country’s forces did not attack civilians.