The ministry said Turkey had, in turn, killed 12 members of the PKK. The Turkish government and military commonly use the term "neutralize" to mean killing or capturing enemy combatants.

"Turkish Air Forces elements and our fire support combat vehicles responded [to the attack] by destroying the PKK targets,’’ the ministry said.

Turkey and the PKK have been engaged in a decades-long conflict in the country’s southeast, which has seen more than 40,000 killed, mostly Kurds.

The PKK, which maintains its headquarters in the Qandil mountains in Kurdistan Region in the north of Iraq, has been labeled a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union.

Reporter’s code: 50101