Two Turkish soldiers killed in N Iraq

ANKARA

İHA Photo

Two Turkish soldiers were killed and two others injured in a terror attack by radical groups in northern Iraq, the Defense Ministry said on March 25.

"Two of our heroic fellow soldiers were martyred and two others were injured due to harassment fire in the [northern] Haftanin region of Iraq," said the ministry in a statement.

''Targets determined in the region were immediately brought under intense fire," it added.

The terrorist group being targeted was not specified, but northern Iraq is a known base of the terrorist YPG/PKK, used by its members to plan cross-border terrorist attacks against Turkey.

As retaliation, Turkish security forces neutralized eight YPG/PKK terrorists in northern Iraq, the Defense Ministry said.

The terrorists were neutralized in an airstrike in the country’s Haftanin region, the ministry said in a statement.

Turkish authorities often use the word “neutralized” to imply the terrorists in question surrendered or were killed or captured.

The PKK is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States, and the European Union.

It has been responsible for the deaths of 40,000 people, including women, children, and infants.

The YPG is the PKK's Syrian offshoot.