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Methane Gas Exposure Kills Twelve Turkish Soldiers in Iraq Cave Search

Turkish authorities are probing why methane built up in the former PKK field hospital as survivors remain hospitalized.

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Overview

  • Twelve soldiers died after inhaling colorless, odorless methane while searching for the remains of an infantry officer killed in May 2022.
  • Nineteen troops were overcome by the gas inside an 852-meter-altitude cave that was once used as a PKK field hospital.
  • The operation is part of Turkey’s multi-year Claw-Lock campaign against PKK militants in northern Iraq.
  • The incident highlights the unpredictable hazards of gas accumulation in underground hideouts used by insurgent groups.
  • The fatalities coincide with the PKK’s imminent disarmament under a new peace initiative aimed at ending four decades of conflict.