A Turkish soldier was killed by shellfire in northern Iraq on Thursday, Ankara reported, blaming the attack on fighters from the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).
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“One of our heroic soldiers was seriously injured in a mortar attack by PKK terrorists on one of our bases. He was taken to hospital, where he could not be saved, ”
the Turkish Defense Ministry said in a statement.
"We immediately retaliated and according to our first information, three terrorists were neutralized",
added the ministry, specifying that the attack had occurred in an area close to the Turkish border.
Turkish forces frequently conduct operations against PKK rear bases in northern Iraq.
The PKK, a group described as
"terrorist"
by Ankara and its Western allies, has been waging bloody guerrilla warfare on Turkish soil since 1984, a conflict which has left more than 40,000 dead.