Turkish soldier killed in Iraq clash, defense ministry says

PHOTO CAPTION: Illustrative photo — Turkish soldiers watch over the Syrian town of Kobani as they take position near Mursitpinar border crossing on the Turkish-Syrian border in the Turkish town of Suruc in southeastern Sanliurfa province October 4, 2014. REUTERS/Murad Sezer

ANKARA (Reuters) - A Turkish soldier was killed and four others were wounded in a clash with militants from the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in northern Iraq, Turkey's defence ministry said on Tuesday.

Six PKK members were also killed in the clashes that took place in a region where the Turkish Armed Forces are conducting an operation dubbed "Claw-Lock" against militant targets, the ministry said.

In its statement, the defence ministry used the term "neutralised," commonly used to mean "killed."

The PKK, designated a terrorist group by Turkey, the United States and the European Union, took up arms against the Turkish state in 1984. More than 40,000 people have been killed in the insurgency.

Senior Turkish and Iraqi officials held high-level talks in Baghdad last week to discuss security issues including potential measures against the PKK, after Turkey warned of new military operations in the region.

Turkey has conducted years of cross-border military operations targeting militants that has left roughly half the Syrian territory bordering Turkey and all of Iraqi territory bordering Turkey controlled or overseen by Turkey's military.



(Reporting by Huseyin Hayatsever; Editing by Daren Butler and Alex Richardson)