6 days ago
At least 12 soldiers are gassed to death in a cave after being exposed to deadly methane during hunt for fallen comrade
Twelve Turkish soldiers have died after being exposed to methane gas while searching caves in northern Iraq on Sunday.
The troops had been deployed to locate the remains of a comrade who was killed in a clash with Kurdish militants more than three years ago.
The Turkish Ministry of Defence said 19 soldiers were affected by the gas leak during the operation.
In an update posted on X, before the latest tally, the ministry said: 'Three other of our heroic comrades in arms have lost their lives, bringing the total number of martyrs to eight.'
The soldiers had entered the cave complex during a search mission for the body of a Turkish soldier shot dead by fighters from the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in May 2022.
Officials said the cave was previously used as a makeshift hospital by PKK militants, who have long operated in the remote terrain along the Turkey-Iraq border.
So far, the source of the methane gas is still unclear.
The operation is part of Turkey's wider military campaign against the PKK, designated a terrorist organisation by Ankara, the United States and the European Union.
The troops were on the hunt for the body of their comrade, who had been shot dead in May 2002
The campaign, known as Operation Claw-Lock, was launched in April 2022 and aims to root out Kurdish fighters based in caves.
The incident comes at a politically sensitive time for Turkey, with discussions reportedly under way to revive peace talks with Kurdish representatives.
The conflict with the PKK has raged since 1984 and has claimed more than 40,000 lives, including civilians, militants and Turkish security forces.
On the same day news of the gas deaths emerged, members of Turkey's pro-Kurdish DEM Party attempted to make contact with jailed PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan.
Ocalan, who helped found the militant group in the late 1970s, has been imprisoned since 1999 and held in near-total isolation for years.
