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Turkish Soldier Killed in Clash in Northern Iraq, Defense Ministry Says 

A member of the PKK carries an automatic rifle on a road in the Qandil Mountains in northern Iraq, 22 June 2018 (AFP)
A member of the PKK carries an automatic rifle on a road in the Qandil Mountains in northern Iraq, 22 June 2018 (AFP)
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Turkish Soldier Killed in Clash in Northern Iraq, Defense Ministry Says 

A member of the PKK carries an automatic rifle on a road in the Qandil Mountains in northern Iraq, 22 June 2018 (AFP)
A member of the PKK carries an automatic rifle on a road in the Qandil Mountains in northern Iraq, 22 June 2018 (AFP)

A Turkish soldier was killed on Monday in a clash with militants from the banned Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in northern Iraq and Turkish airstrikes killed many militants, the Defense Ministry said.

The airstrikes also destroyed 21 PKK targets, the ministry said in a statement without elaborating.

Ankara uses the term "neutralized" to mean killed.

The soldier was killed in a clash in Gara region and Turkish air forces targeted PKK bases in Gara, Hakurk, Metina and Qandil, the ministry said.

The PKK, designated a terrorist group by Türkiye, the United States and the European Union, took up arms against the Turkish state in 1984. More than 40,000 people have been killed in the insurgency.

Ankara has conducted years of cross-border military operations against militants that have left roughly half the Syrian territory bordering Türkiye and all of Iraqi territory bordering Türkiye controlled or overseen by Türkiye’s military.

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Iran’s Supreme Leader Says Syrian Youth Will Resist Incoming Government

A defaced portrait of ousted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is seen in Damascus, Syria, 18 December 2024 (issued 22 December 2024). (EPA)
A defaced portrait of ousted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is seen in Damascus, Syria, 18 December 2024 (issued 22 December 2024). (EPA)
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Iran’s Supreme Leader Says Syrian Youth Will Resist Incoming Government

A defaced portrait of ousted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is seen in Damascus, Syria, 18 December 2024 (issued 22 December 2024). (EPA)
A defaced portrait of ousted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is seen in Damascus, Syria, 18 December 2024 (issued 22 December 2024). (EPA)

Iran's supreme leader on Sunday said that young Syrians will resist the new government emerging after the overthrow of President Bashar sl-Assad as he again accused the United States and Israel of sowing chaos in the country.

Iran had provided crucial support to Assad throughout Syria's nearly 14-year civil war, which erupted after he launched a violent crackdown on a popular uprising against his family's decades-long rule. Syria had long served as a key conduit for Iranian aid to Lebanon's armed group Hezbollah.

Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said in an address on Sunday that the “young Syrian has nothing to lose" and suffers from insecurity following Assad's fall.

“What can he do? He should stand with strong will against those who designed and those who implemented the insecurity," Khamenei said. “God willing, he will overcome them.”

He accused the United States and Israel of plotting against Assad's government in order to seize resources, saying: “Now they feel victory, the Americans, the Zionist regime and those who accompanied them.”

Iran and its armed proxies in the region have suffered a series of major setbacks over the past year, with Israel battering Hamas in Gaza and landing heavy blows on Hezbollah before they agreed to a ceasefire in Lebanon last month.

Khamenei denied that such groups were proxies of Iran, saying they fought because of their own beliefs and that Tehran did not depend on them. “If one day we plan to take action, we do not need proxy force,” he said.