Six Turkish soldiers killed in clashes with Kurdish militants in northern Iraq

Escalating clashes between Turkey and Kurdish militants in northern Iraq have left six Turkish soldiers dead.

Six Turkish soldiers were killed in clashes with Kurdish militants in northern Iraq this week, Turkey’s Defense Ministry said Thursday as the fighting between Turkish forces and the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) escalated in the region.

The ministry said the four PKK militants were killed after the group’s bases came under fire in a counterstrike that led to the killing of Turkish soldiers. The deaths can’t yet be independently verified. The clashes took place as part of Turkey’s series of cross-border military operations — dubbed “Claw Lock” — in northern Iraq’s Avasin, Metina and Zap regions.

The Turkish military operation in Iraqi territory has been a source of tension between Ankara and Baghdad, which accuses Turkey of violating Iraq’s sovereignty and causing civilian casualties.

According to pro-PKK news channel Medya News, on Wednesday one civilian was killed and another wounded in a Turkish drone strike near the northern Iraqi province of Sulaimaniyah, which is under the control of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), one of the two dominant political parties in the Iraqi Kurdistan region. The report couldn’t be verified independently.

Citing increasing activity by PKK militants in the area, Turkey slapped a flight ban on Sulaimaniyah International Airport in April. Ankara accuses the PUK of being lenient on PKK activities in the region.

The PKK has been fighting the Turkish state for self-rule in Turkey since 1984 and is using the rugged mountains of Iraqi Kurdistan as a rear base. The group is considered a terror organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union.

Turkey has been conducting cross-border operations against the PKK in northern Iraq for decades.

The Turkish Defense Ministry stopped short of providing further details on the recent clashes but said that more than 585 militants have been killed as part of the Claw Lock operation, which began last year. Al-Monitor was unable to verify the figure independently.