PKK claims suicide attack on Turkey-Iran pipeline killing 30 Turkish soldiers

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – At least 30 Turkish soldiers were killed when a Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) fighter launched a suicide attack on a pipeline in Agri province near the Iran-Turkey border on Tuesday, the group claimed in a statement. 

The attack was carried out by Sema Kocer, a 25-year-old PKK fighter, in Dogubeyazit at around 5am on Tuesday, a statement published by ANF news agency said.

Turkish officials have not confirmed the cause of the attack or the number of casualties. According to the PKK, "at least 30" Turkish troops died, and “dozens” were injured. It also claimed five armored vehicles were destroyed.

Turkey’s defense ministry issued a statement shortly after the explosion saying “a terrorist was neutralized in an operation carried out by the border units [guards] in Agri/Dogubeyazit after members of the separatist terrorist organization of the PKK tried to enter our country from Iran,” the statement read. 

The Turkish government uses the term “neutralized” to denote death, injury, or capture.

It did not mention Turkish casualties.

The Turkish troops were guarding a gas pipeline, which was damaged in the attack, disrupting Iranian gas exports to Turkey.

Mehdi Jamshidi-Dana, director of National Iranian Gas Co., confirmed the damage to the pipeline and said exports would resume following repairs.

“The damaged part of Iran’s gas export pipeline to Turkey will be repaired within the next few days,” he said, according to Mehr News. 

The pipeline carries around 10 billion cubic meters of natural gas each year. This is not the first time it has been targeted by the PKK.

Turkish state broadcaster TRT Haber shared footage of the aftermath of Tuesday’s attack. It said the cause of the blast is currently under investigation.