ANKARA — One Turkish soldier was killed and another injured on Saturday when missiles fired by Islamic State (IS) fighters hit their base during clashes between the jihadists and local Kurdish forces, the Turkish army said.
The army said that missiles launched by “Daesh terrorist group”, intended for Kurdish forces, had landed in Gedu military base, where Turkish troops are deployed. Daesh is another name for IS.
The casualties were transferred to Turkey by helicopter, it said, with the wounded soldier taken to a hospital in the city of Sirnak bordering Iraq.
Following the incident, Turkish forces returned fire on IS targets, the statement said. It was not clear from the statement where exactly the Turkish base is located.
Turkey’s military presence in the Bashiqa area of northern Iraq has become a bone of contention with the central government in Iraq.
Turkey says its troops train Iraqi forces fighting IS extremists but Baghdad has accused Ankara of using the pretext of training to increase its influence in northern Iraq.
