ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A Turkish soldier fighting a Kurdish armed group in the Kurdistan Region was killed, Turkey’s defense ministry said on Thursday amid its ongoing military operation in the Region’s mountains.
The soldier was killed in Turkey’s Claw-Lock operation in Duhok province where fighting between members of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and Turkish forces continues, announced the ministry. Turkey has set up dozens of outposts inside Iraqi territory.
People's Defense Forces (HPG), the armed wing of the PKK, claimed on Thursday that 17 of Ankara’s soldiers were “punished,” and four others were injured.
Operation Claw-Lock was launched on April 18 aimed at targeting PKK hideouts in the mountains areas of Metina, Zap, Avashin, and Basyan in Duhok province.
The number of Turkish soldiers killed in Ankara’s latest operation has risen to 40, according to numbers published by the defense ministry.
However, the HPG earlier this month alleged that 1,582 Turkish soldiers were “punished,” and 217 others were injured from April 14 to July 14.
Turkey’s defense ministry on Saturday claimed that it has “neutralized” 289 PKK fighters in its ongoing military operation. It uses the term to imply surrenders, killings or captives.
Both sides often release exaggerated death tolls of the other.
The PKK often announces its casualties late. Earlier this month it confirmed the death of two of its fighters killed in Zap during clashes with Turkey on June 14.
Operation Claw-Lock is the fourth stage of Ankara’s Claw operations against the PKK in the Kurdistan Region, with the first stage starting in 2019.
One Turkish soldier and four Kurdish guards affiliated with Turkey were killed in Ankara’s Operation Claw-Thunderbolt on Monday. Turkey launched the operation against the PKK in areas bordering the Kurdistan Region in April of last year.
Another soldier was killed in another stage of the the Claw operations in the Kurdistan Region on Wednesday.
The PKK, armed group fighting for increased rights of Kurds in Turkey, is designated a terrorist organization by Turkey which often targets the group at home and in the Region.
The Iraqi defense ministry on Saturday said Turkey has breached 105 kilometers deep into the Iraqi borders, setting up over a hundred military outposts and five bases in Iraq and the Region.
