Ankara, July 7 -- Five Turkish soldiers were killed after being exposed to methane gas during a search operation in a cave in northern Iraq, the Turkish Defence Ministry said yesterday.
The incident occurred during an ongoing search and clearance mission in Turkiye's Operation Claw-Lock zone in northern Iraq, where the Turkish military has been conducting operations against the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), the ministry said in a statement, without specifying the time frame of the incident.
The cave, previously used as a hospital by the PKK and later cleared by Turkish forces, was being searched as part of efforts to locate the remains of a first lieutenant who was killed in 2022, it said.
A total of 19 soldiers were expose...