ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Four Turkish soldiers were killed and six injured during an operation Friday night near the border with the Kurdistan Region, Turkey’s Defence Ministry announced early Saturday. The casualties likely occurred during a skirmish with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), though the guerrillas were not named in the ministry statement that was reported on by state-owned Anadolu Agency.
The operation took place in the Cukurca district of Turkey's eastern Hakkari province that sits in the triangle where Turkey, Iran, and Iraq meet. The Turkish army conducts offensives against the PKK on both sides of the Turkey-Kurdistan Region border.
The ministry claimed that Turkey carried out “air operations and fire support” against the PKK fighters.
The PKK has not immediately commented on the incident.
In mid-March, Turkey announced the deaths of two of their soldiers in clashes with the PKK on the Kurdistan Region side of the border, in the Sidakan district of northern Erbil province.
The decades-long conflict between the PKK and the Turkish state was reignited in July 2015 after an attempted peace process failed. At least 4,330 people have been killed in clashes or terror attacks in the past nearly four years, according to the International Crisis Group that is tracking the conflict. That number includes 2,499 PKK fighters, 1,144 members of state security forces, 464 civilians, and 223 people whose affiliations were not identified.
The operation took place in the Cukurca district of Turkey's eastern Hakkari province that sits in the triangle where Turkey, Iran, and Iraq meet. The Turkish army conducts offensives against the PKK on both sides of the Turkey-Kurdistan Region border.
The ministry claimed that Turkey carried out “air operations and fire support” against the PKK fighters.
The PKK has not immediately commented on the incident.
In mid-March, Turkey announced the deaths of two of their soldiers in clashes with the PKK on the Kurdistan Region side of the border, in the Sidakan district of northern Erbil province.
The decades-long conflict between the PKK and the Turkish state was reignited in July 2015 after an attempted peace process failed. At least 4,330 people have been killed in clashes or terror attacks in the past nearly four years, according to the International Crisis Group that is tracking the conflict. That number includes 2,499 PKK fighters, 1,144 members of state security forces, 464 civilians, and 223 people whose affiliations were not identified.
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