ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Turkey’s defense ministry announced that one of its soldiers was killed in an operation targeting the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in the Kurdistan Region on Wednesday, while the PKK claimed it hit Turkish forces in Duhok province.
One soldier was killed, according to the ministry, during a "search and screening" operation.
Ankara said in the statement that the PKK fired at Turkish army soldiers in Duhok province, without providing further details on the location or other casualties.
For its part, the PKK said in a statement that they "ambushed" Turkish soldiers on Mount Zab in Kurdistan Region, killing 14.
A large number of Turkish troops have been deployed in Duhok since mid June, causing an escalation in the decades-long war between Turkey and the PKK. Locals have told Rudaw of Turkey establishing checkpoints and conducting patrols in the mountainous border area.
The Iraqi government has condemned the Turkish incursion into the Kurdistan Region. On July 12, Iraq’s National Security Council met to reject the “violations by Turkish forces in the shared border areas” and reiterated their opposition to Ankara’s military incursions in the Kurdistan Region in a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani.
The operations have caused the displacement of families and the evacuation of several villages in the border areas.
The US-based Community Peacemaker Teams (CPT), a rights group that closely monitors the Turkey-PKK conflict, published a new report last month, stating that nine villages had been “completely” emptied and 184 families have been displaced since the tensions began mid-June.
