Turkish soldier killed in IS attack in northern Iraq
Xinhua, March 27, 2016 Adjust font size:
One Turkish soldier was killed and another wounded on Saturday in an attack by Islamic State (IS) militants at Geru military training camp in the Bashiqa region of Mosul province of Iraq, a written statement by Turkish Armed Forces said.
The Turkish soldier was killed amid the clashes between IS militants and Kurdisn fighters of the Iraqi Kurdistan Administration in the camp, said the statement.
Turkish Armed Forces responded the attack and destroyed the IS targets, it added.
On March 24, the Turkish military destroyed the IS positions repelling an attack by the militant group, which was the fourth assault since December against the military camp which is relatively close to IS-held Mosul.
The IS militants launched their first attack on the military camp on Dec. 16 just after Turkey deployed around additional 150 troops to the Bashiqa area in December earlier with aim of training an Iraqi Sunni militia to fight IS. In a second assault on Dec. 27, five Turkish soldiers were injured.
Turkish soldiers killed 17 IS militants on Jan. 8 while the IS group tried to leak into the camp.
The deployment in Iraq, however, have caused a row between Turkey and Iraq as the latter claimed the presence of Turkish troops to the camp was violation of the country's sovereignty. Endit