Death of Two More Turkish Soldiers in Cross-Border Operations

The Turkish Defense Ministry announced on Sunday that two more Turkish soldiers were killed in cross-border operations in Syria and Iraq, raising the military's death toll for the weekend to four. Following the death of two soldiers on Saturday in an attack in the Idlib region of northwestern Syria, the government reported that one of the three soldiers injured in the incident later died. The "de-escalation" zone located south of Turkey is the last major area in Syria controlled by the opposition after a decade-long war, with Turkish and Russian forces conducting joint patrols in parts of it based on agreements made by the two countries early last year. The Defense Ministry stated that the fourth soldier was killed in northern Iraq following an attack by "separatist terrorists" on a Turkish military vehicle leaving one of the bases, adding that another soldier was injured. The Turkish operation in Iraq targets the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has bases in the area and is regarded as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States, and the European Union. The PKK began a rebellion in southeastern Turkey in 1984, which has resulted in over 40,000 deaths.