Turkey says 5 soldiers killed by methane gas during cave search in northern Iraq

ISTANBUL (AP) — Five Turkish soldiers have died after exposure to methane gas on Sunday while searching a cave in northern Iraq for the remains of a fellow soldier killed by Kurdish militants in 2022, the Turkish Defense Ministry said.

Soldiers were searching a mountain cave when 19 of them were exposed to the gas, which is colorless, odorless, flammable and can cause asphyxiation in sufficient concentration.

“They were immediately transported to the hospital (but) despite all interventions, five heroic personnel were martyred,” the ministry said in a statement. “Rescue operations in the area continue.”

The ministry did not give a specific location for the incident other than the “Claw-Lock Operation region,” a reference to an operation launched against the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, in north Iraq in April 2022.

The Turkish unit affected by methane gas was searching for the remains of an infantry officer killed by “terrorist gunfire” during a search-and-clear operation in May 2022, the ministry said. For the last three years, teams have been hunting for his remains.

The cave was at an altitude of 852 meters (2,795 foot) and was known to have been used as a hospital by the PKK in the past, although it had since been cleared by Turkish soldiers.

The office of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the soldiers were “exposed to a high concentration of accumulated methane gas.”

Turkey and the PKK have waged a 40-year conflict which has often spilled over into Iraq and Syria. Turkey has set up a series of bases in northern Iraq, where the PKK has been established for decades.

The PKK, which is considered a terrorist organization by Turkey and most of the West, announced in May that it would disband and renounce armed conflict as part of a new peace initiative with Turkey.

Its fighters are expected to begin handing over their weapons over the next few days in the first concrete move toward disarmament.