SULAIMANI (ESTA) — One Turkish soldier was killed and another injured in an explosion in the Kurdistan Region, Turkey’s Defense Ministry said on Saturday.
A bomb exploded as two soldiers passed by, killing one and injuring another, Turkish ministry of defense said in a statement.
People’s defense forces (HPG), the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) military wing, claimed responsibility for the blast following the statement released by Turkey’s ministry of defense.
It said two Turkish soldiers were killed as a result of activity conducted by their forces in the Kurdistan Region’s Zab region.
“The bodies of the dead, and their military equipment have been seized” the HPG said.
“Another soldier died after he jumped off from a height when guerilla’s tried to approach him” it added.
Ankara has launched a series of operations against the PKK in Iraq and Syria, the latest one in the Kurdistan Region beginning in April.
Turkey views the People Protection Units (YPG) as identical to the PKK, a Kurdish militant group that has been waging an insurgency in southeast Turkey since 1984, It designates both groups as terrorist organizations.
