Five Turkish soldiers killed in attack on Iraq base

ANKARA: Five Turkish soldiers were killed and eight others were injured in an attack on a Turkish military base in northern Iraq, Turkiye´s defence ministry said on Friday.

The ministry said the soldiers were killed during a clash with “terrorists” following “an attempted intrusion” of the base near Metina in northern Iraq.

The assailants were presumed to be members of the Kurdistan Workers´ Party (PKK) which Ankara and its Western allies classify as a terrorist group, private Turkish channel NTV reported.

Turkish authorities announced a military operation was under way in the area in response.

12 Turkish soldiers were killed late last month in two separate attacks on Turkish military bases in northern Iraq.

The Turkish army regularly launches military ground and air operations against PKK fighters and their positions in northern Iraq, as well as autonomous Kurdistan or in the mountainous Iraqi region of Sinjar close to the Turkish border.