Turkish forces are seen at Mount Barsaya in northeast of Afrin, January 28, 2018 / Khalil Ashawi / Reuters
On November 26, three Turkish service members were killed in northern Iraq in a daring raid by the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
The raid targeted a position of the Turkish military located within the Operation Claw-Lock zone in the Kurdistan region. Kurdish Guerrilla fighters took advantage of poor weather conditions that allowed them to infiltrate the defenses around the position before clashing with Turkish troops there.
In separate statements, the Turkish Ministry of National Defense identified the three slain service members as Infantry Sergeant Eyyup Ugurlu, Contracted Private Mehmet Demir and Contracted Private Hakan koroglu.
The attack was not without losses for the PKK. The Kurdish group lost three of its fighters. A fourth one, a female fighter, was captured by Turkish troops.
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- Click to see full-size image. Source: the Turkish Ministry of National Defense.
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- Click to see full-size image. Source: the Turkish Ministry of National Defense.
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- Click to see full-size image. Source: the Turkish Ministry of National Defense.
Just a day earlier, Turkey acknowledged losing three service members in the Operation Claw-Lock zone to attacks by the PKK.
The Turkish military launched Operation Claw-Lock in northern Iraq on April 17. The main goal of the large-scale operation is to neutralize the remaining cells of the PKK in the areas of Metina, Zap and Avashin Basyan in Kurdistan.
The latest casualties brought to 70 the number of Turkish troops killed in the northern Iraqi region since the beginning of the operation.
Last week, Turkey escalated its strikes on Kurdish forces in Iraq as well as in neighboring Syria in the framework of a new operation codenamed Claw-Sword. Despite of Ankara’s military pressure, the PKK can still conduct effective defensive and offensive operations as evident by its recent attacks.
