SULAIMANI (ESTA) — A Turkish soldier who was wounded in a blast in northern Iraq succumbed to his injuries, Turkey’s defense ministry said.
In a statement, the defense ministry said infantry specialist sergeant Umit Solak was seriously injured when an improvised explosive device (IED) went off in the Avashin region in northern Iraq.
The Turkish soldier died in hospital, it added.
On Sept. 12, the defense ministry said a Turkish soldier was killed and another was wounded in an attack carried out by “separatist terrorists” on a Turkish military vehicle that was leaving a base in northern Iraq.
Separately, the People’s Defense Forces (HPG), a PKK military wing, said its fighters had killed nine Turkish troops and injured two others in Avashin and Matin regions last week.
Turkey has taken its decades-old conflict with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) deep into northern Iraq, establishing military bases and deploying armed military drones against the fighters in their mountain strongholds.
Most of the operations have focused on territory up to 30 km (20 miles) from the border.
