The People’s Defense Forces (HPG), the military wing of the PKK, claimed it had killed nine Turkish soldiers, but has not commented on its own casualties.

Early on Wednesday, the Turkish military launched Operation Claw-Eagle 2 with combined operations involving airborne troops and airstrikes along Gara Mountain.

Turkish Consul-General in Erbil Hakan Karacay told NRT that Baghdad and Erbil were informed of the operation ahead of time.

“Our operation is just against the PKK. We have not hidden that we have had such an intention,” Karacay added.

At least twelve civilians were killed during Operation Claw-Eagle 1.

The Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK), a PKK affiliated group, said in a statement that “Turkey cannot attack Gara Mountain without the support of the Kurdistan Democratic Party” and called for the Kurdish people to take a stance against Turkish aggression.

Turkey regularly carries out cross-border operations in northern Iraq and the Kurdistan Region, justifying its actions as necessary to combat the PKK, which has waged a decades-long insurgency for Kurdish rights in Turkey’s southeast.

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