Authorities are investigating the death of 12 Turkish soldiers who were exposed to methane gas in northern Iraq, Türkiye’s Defense Ministry said Thursday.
Last week, 19 Turkish soldiers were exposed to deadly gas in a cave in northern Iraq’s mountainous regions where the PKK terrorist group has hideouts.
“The incident is being thoroughly investigated from all aspects, and the source of the carbon monoxide, methane and hydrogen sulfide gases found inside the case is being probed, including with the use of unmanned systems,” the ministry said in a statement released after a weekly press briefing.
The incident occurred as troops were searching for the remains of a fellow soldier who was shot dead by the PKK in the area in May 2022. His body was never recovered. At the time, Türkiye was waging Operation Claw Lock, with its troops seeking to eradicate PKK members holed up in caves along the border.
The Defense Ministry said troops continue to comb through and destroy terrorist shelters and tunnels in the region and search for the remains of soldiers killed in the past.
During such operations, Turkish troops recovered the body of Sgt. Mustafa Bazna on Jan. 29 and Nurettin Tokyürek on March 26 this year, the ministry noted.
It also dismissed allegations circulating online about the incident, claiming that the soldiers entered the cave at the same time; their equipment was incomplete or they did not have gas masks; that there was a trap or a chemical gas; a cave-in occurred or that a soldier was killed or injured by shrapnel. The ministry labeled all of the rumors “completely unfounded.”
“The incident was an exceptional, unpredictable and unusual event that resulted in a profoundly traumatic outcome for everyone,” the ministry said, stressing that additional measures would be taken to ensure “necessary lessons are learned and similar tragedies never occur again.”
The incident plunged the nation into sorrow, with funeral ceremonies for the martyrs drawing in large crowds in their hometowns earlier this week. The sight of flag-draped coffins of “martyrs” has been rare in Türkiye in recent years as the PKK, which has been chiefly responsible for the deaths of a large number of soldiers and other security officers since the 1980s, dwindled in numbers thanks to counterterrorism efforts.
The incident also preceded the expected start of the PKK’s disarmament as part of the terror-free Türkiye initiative later this week.
