Nine Turkish soldiers were killed in action, four others were injured in an attack by the PKK terrorist group in Operation Claw-Lock region in northern Iraq, the Defense Ministry said Friday.
Clashes. broke out after the terrorists attempted to infiltrate the area, the ministry said.
At least 12 PKK terrorists were killed in retaliation to the attack, the ministry added.
Last month, two separate attacks on Turkish bases in northern Iraq killed a dozen Turkish soldiers. Ankara has operated several dozen military posts in the area for the past 25 years in its decades-old fight against the PKK.
Türkiye launched Operation Claw-Lock in April 2022 to target the PKK terrorist group's hideouts in the Metina, Zap and Avasin-Basyan regions of northern Iraq, near the Turkish border. Two operations preceded it – Claw-Tiger and Claw-Eagle – launched in 2020 to root out terrorists hiding north of Iraq and plotting cross-border attacks in Türkiye.
The Turkish army aims to cut off supplies and the operational area for the terrorist group, whose leadership hides in the Qandil Mountains in northern Iraq. Turkish airstrikes have frequently hit the Qandil area in the last decades, yet, ground operations have been scarce due to immediate security risks.
Qandil became the PKK's main headquarters in the 1990s after it used the Bekaa Valley of Lebanon as training grounds for many years. The first extensive operation against the PKK was carried out in May 1983, when 5,000 Turkish soldiers crossed the Iraq border and advanced 5 kilometers (3.11 miles). After a land operation in the Qandil Mountains to destroy PKK hideouts, they retreated. In the mid-1990s, the operations intensified due to increased PKK attacks and infiltration attempts near border towns that cost hundreds of Turkish soldiers' lives. In May 1995, the Turkish army launched Operation Steel with the participation of 35,000 personnel. The operation was followed by Operation Claw, launched on May 27, 2019, to eliminate the presence of the terrorist organization in northern Iraq.
