Methane gas kills 12 Turkish soldiers in Iraqi operation

Twelve Turkish soldiers have died after being exposed to methane gas while looking for a cave in Iraq, the Turkish Ministry of National Defense reported.

More than 19 people were exposed to gas during a search operation and clear on Sunday and immediately went to hospital.

By Monday, 12 soldiers were killed, the ministry said.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he had received the news with “great grief” and expanded his condolences to the families of the soldiers and the Turkish armed forces.

Methane gas is not directly toxic, but it can be deadly as it can become suffocating, especially in narrow, closed spaces.

The wounded soldiers sought the body of a soldier who was killed in a shooting in May 2022 during an operation Claw Lock, a military operation led by Turkey against fighters from the Kurdistan (PKK) workers party in Iraq, which included air strikes and award.

PKK – which is banned as a terrorist group in Turkey, the EU, the United Kingdom and the United States – has carried out a 40 -year uprising against Turkey.

The initial goal of the group, when it began to fight Turkey in the 1980s, was to create an independent home for Kurds. He then moved away from his separatist goals, focusing instead on more autonomy and more Kurdish rights.

In the last four decades, more than 40,000 people have been killed in the conflict.

In March PKK Classified Fire Termination And in May, he said he would dissolve, saying that he had “fulfilled his historical mission” and “end the armed struggle method.”

In the first significant step to peace after the announcement, the PKK said a group of fighters would lay weapons this week in Iraqi Kurdistan.