5 Turkish soldiers killed in clashes against PKK in Iraq

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkey’s defense ministry says five Turkish soldiers were killed in clashes with Kurdish militants in northern Iraq. The fighting on Tuesday left two other soldiers wounded. The clashes took place during Turkey’s latest cross-border offensive against the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, which maintains bases in northern Iraq.  Turkey has conducted numerous cross-border aerial and ground operations against the PKK in northern Iraq over the past decades. Its military has also conducted several incursions in Syria to push Syrian Kurdish fighters – that Ankara views as an extension of the PKK – away from its borders. The PKK has fought Turkey for autonomy for Kurds in a conflict that has claimed tens of thousands of lives since 1984.