Two Turkish soldiers killed, eight wounded in northern Iraq

ISTANBUL- Reuters

Two Turkish soldiers were killed and eight others were wounded on March 16 in a clash during operations into northern Iraq, Turkey's defense ministry said.

Six militants, including a woman, were "neutralized" during the operations, the ministry said in a statement. The Turkish army uses the term neutralize when it has killed, captured or wounded militants.

Turkey regularly carries out air strikes on PKK bases in northern Iraq, as President Tayyip Erdoğan pursues his aim of ending the militant group's presence near Turkey's borders.

The PKK, listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States, the European Union, has waged a three-decade war in Turkey's southeast that has killed about 40,000 people.