Three Turkish soldiers killed in explosion in northern Iraq

Three Turkish soldiers have been killed and two were wounded by explosives planted by fighters in northern Iraq, Turkey’s defence ministry said.

The ministry said on Monday the incident took place the day before in a region where Turkey was carrying out a cross-border operation.

A statement said three Turkish soldiers were “martyred” and two others wounded when an improvised explosive device detonated. It added that the injured soldiers are currently receiving treatment at a hospital, but did not elaborate on their conditions.

The Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) armed group is based in northern Iraq, just across Turkey’s southern border. Turkey launched military operations against the PKK in April in northern Iraq’s Metina and Avasin-Basyan regions.

Last week, the Kurdish rebels launched a mortar attack on a Turkish military base in northern Iraq, wounding a Turkish soldier who later died in hospital.

Turkey’s defence ministry said its forces immediately retaliated against those carrying out the attack and three PKK fighters had been “neutralised”, a term commonly used to mean killed.

The PKK is listed as a “terrorist organisation” by Turkey, the US, and the EU. About 40,000 people have died during its decades-long fight for independence from the Turkish state.