FILE PHOTO: Turkish soldiers seen at the border town of Akcakale © Reuters / Murad Sezer
The Turkish military has lost five more service members in the Iraqi Kurdistan Region, where it has been conducting a large-scale operation against the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
The operation, codenamed Claw-Lock, was launched on April 17 to neutralize PKK cells in the areas of Metina, Zap and Avashin Basyan.
On July 7, the Turkish Ministry of National Defense announced that three service members were killed and five others were wounded in two confrontations with PKK fighters in the autonomous Kurdish region in northern Iraq. In two separate statements, the ministry identified the slain service members as Sergeant Murat Yildirim, Captain Muhammed Mustafa Koca and Captain Omur Ertugrul Sari.
Click to see full-size image. Source: the Turkish Ministry of National Defense.
Click to see full-size image. Source: the Turkish Ministry of National Defense.
Click to see full-size image. Source: the Turkish Ministry of National Defense.
Three days earlier, the ministry announced the death of two service members, Sergeants Serhat Bal and Enes Ozgul, in Operation Claw Lock zone. Ozgul died of wounds he sustained as a result of an attack by the PKK that took place on June 21.
Click to see full-size image. Source: the Turkish Ministry of National Defense.
Click to see full-size image. Source: the Turkish Ministry of National Defense.
The new casualty brought to 36 the number of Turkish service members killed in the Kurdistan Region since the beginning of Operation Claw-Lock.
Turkey responded to its recent losses by intensifying its airstrikes on the PKK’s areas of influence in the Kurdistan Region. The airstrikes inflicted some serious losses on the PKK. However, they also led to a backlash against Ankara in Iraq.
Operation Claw-Lock will not likely end soon as Turkey appears to be determined to mount even more pressure on the PKK. According to Ankara’s claims, more than 250 fighters of the PKK have been killed, wounded or captured since the beginning of the operation.
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