On the evening of April 19, local time, the Turkish Ministry of Defense released the latest battle report saying that the Turkish army, with the support of air force fighters, continued to carry out cross-border strikes in northern Iraq.

  Another Turkish soldier was killed in the fighting, the war report said, bringing the Turkish army's death toll in the operation to two.

  The Turkish Ministry of Defense said earlier on the 19th that the Turkish army carried out a cross-border land and air joint strike operation code-named "Claw Lock" against the PKK in northern Iraq in the early morning of the 18th, killing at least 26 PKK militants.

  The Iraqi presidential palace issued a statement on the 19th saying that the Turkish army's cross-border strike in northern Iraq threatened Iraq's national security and violated Iraq's sovereignty.

  Founded in 1979, the PKK seeks to establish an independent state by force in the Kurdish-inhabited areas along Turkey's borders with Iraq, Iran and Syria, and its fighters are now concentrated in northern Iraq and northern Syria.

Turkey regards the group as a terrorist organization and has repeatedly crossed the border to strike PKK targets in Iraq and Syria.

(produced by Xu Miaoqiao)

Responsible editor: [Luo Pan]