Two Turkish soldiers killed in Kurdistan Region mountains

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Two Turkish soldiers were killed during intense fighting in the Kurdistan Region, Turkey’s defense ministry confirmed on Sunday raising the death toll among Ankara’s fighters to over 35 since the launch of its most recent military offensive in Duhok.

Ankara said the two soldiers were killed during clashes with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), identifying them as Selahattin Taskın and Omer Faruk Civelek.

Turkey launched its latest operation dubbed Operation Claw-Lock on April 18 targeting PKK hideouts in the mountainous areas of Metina, Zap, Avashin, and Basyan in Duhok province.

Ankara has lost at least 39 of its soldiers since the start of the operation, according to numbers published by the Turkish defense ministry.

However, the People's Defense Forces (HPG), the armed wing of the PKK, claimed on Friday that 1,582 Turkish soldiers were “punished,” and 217 others were injured from April 14 to July 14. 

Both sides often release exaggerated death tolls of the other. The Turkish defense ministry claims “neutralizing” PKK fighters daily on its Twitter account, a term it uses to imply surrenders, killings, or capturing. 

The PKK often announces its casualties late. On Sunday 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.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said that the anti-PKK operations will continue, claiming that soon there will be no place called Qandil, referring to the rugged mountain range which stretches across the Iran-Iraq border in the north of Sulaimani province has been the headquarters of the PKK since the early 1980s when the group established bases there.