According to official information, five Turkish security forces were killed in northern Iraq during a military operation against the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which is banned in Turkey. A soldier and four other security forces were killed as a result of a “terrorist attack,” Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu said on Twitter today. The Turkish Defense Ministry blamed the PKK for the attack, but gave no details.
Ankara regularly carries out military operations in south-eastern Turkey and northern Iraq against the PKK, which is also considered a terrorist organization in the USA and Europe. This, in turn, repeatedly carries out attacks on Turkish security forces.
In April, Turkey launched a new air-to-ground offensive in northern Iraq, where the PKK has its headquarters. Ankara’s military activities in the neighboring country had only recently led to tensions with the Iraqi government: On Wednesday, eight people were killed and 26 others injured in an artillery attack in a tourist region in northern Iraq. Iraq blamed Turkey for the shelling and demanded the withdrawal of Turkish troops. Ankara denied the allegation.