The soldiers were killed on Saturday in the “Operation Claw-Lightning” area, which encompasses the regions of Metina, Avashin, Zap, and Basyan in the Kurdistan Region’s northern Duhok province. They were identified as Hasan Tas and Furkan Gunergok.
The PKK has not commented on the incidents.
Ankara has in the past few years intensified its campaign to eliminate the presence of PKK fighters around its borders, launching several operations in the Kurdistan Region as well as Syria where it claims to target alleged proxies of the group.
In 2019, Turkey launched Operation Claw against the PKK in Khakurk. This was followed by Operation Claw-Tiger in June 2020. The third edition of the offensive was a ground and air cross-border operation, dubbed Operation Claw-Lightning and Operation Claw-Thunderbolt, launched in April 2021. All of these operations focused on the PKK’s positions in the Kurdistan Region’s Duhok province.
Turkey sent its army back into the Kurdistan Region in April of last year, launching Operation Claw-Lock with the goal of targeting PKK positions in Metina, Zap, Avashin, and Basyan areas in northern Duhok province. The operation, according to Ankara, aims to remove the PKK from the bordering areas and cut off its access to mainland Turkey.
Another operation dubbed Claw-Sword was launched in November, which was an aerial campaign targeting PKK positions in the Kurdistan Region and its alleged proxies in northern Syria. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said at the time that the operation was a prelude to a ground offensive.
The PKK is a Kurdish group that has waged an armed insurgency against Turkey for decades and is designated a terrorist organization by Ankara.
