4 Turkish Soldiers Killed in Clash with Kurdish Militants in Iraq

The clash took place on Sunday when Turkish security forces were conducting a search mission in a region where Turkey was carrying out a cross-border operation, according to a ministry statement, Xinhua reported.

Two soldiers were killed and four others injured in the clash with PKK militants in the Operation Claw-Lock zone, but two of the four injured later died at the hospital.

Meanwhile, Vedat Aksac, who was a member of the PKK's "assassination team," and two other members of the group were killed in a Turkish operation in Khalifan, a town in the northern Iraqi province of Erbil, state-run TRT broadcaster reported Monday.

The Turkish intelligence service found out that Aksac had planned to travel to Turkish cities to carry out an attack, according to the TRT report.

The PKK, listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the EU, has been rebelling against the Turkish government for more than three decades.

The Turkish forces frequently carry out ground operations, airstrikes and artillery bombardments against the group's positions in northern Iraq.

The Turkish military has occupied areas in northern Iraq, where it regularly conducts attacks against purported PKK positions without the Arab country’s consent. Baghdad has repeatedly condemned Ankara’s ongoing military operations there.

Iraqi resistance groups have also time and again warned Turkey of the consequences of its incursions into their country.

Back in July, Turkey carried out a strike against the Iraqi hill village of Parakh in the Zakho district of Dohuk province, killing at least nine tourists, including children and women, and wounding more than 20 others.

Authorities in Iraq say that the attack was carried out by Turkish forces and that they are responsible for the deaths and injuries of Iraqi civilians, while Ankara says the country’s forces did not attack civilians.