The Kurdish militant group PKK will begin laying down its arms on Friday, marking the start of a disarmament process aimed at ending one of the Middle East’s longest-running insurgencies.

Nineteen soldiers were hospitalized after being exposed to methane gas during a cave search in Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdish region.

ANKARA — At least 12 Turkish soldiers died from methane gas poisoning in northern Iraq, the Turkish Defense Ministry said Monday.

Turkey's Defense Ministry said five soldiers have been killed by methane gas in northern Iraq. They were searching a cave Sunday for the remains of a fellow soldier killed by Kurdish militants three years ago when 19 of them were exposed to the gas,

Twelve Turkish soldiers have died after being exposed to methane gas while searching a cave in northern Iraq, the Turkish Ministry of National Defence said. At least 19 personnel were exposed to the gas during the search and clear operation on Sunday, and immediately taken to hospital. By Monday, 12 had died, the ministry said.

The Trump administration's May 2025 announcement in Riyadh, and subsequent executive order in June, lifting all sanctions on Syria and praising al-Sharaa as a "young, attractive guy. Tough guy. Strong past.

The Iraqi prime minister received on Tuesday the director of Turkey’s National Intelligence Organization to discuss security issues.

Abdullah Ocalan, the jailed leader of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), appeared in a rare online video on Wednesday to declare the group's armed struggle against Turkey over and called for a full transition to democratic politics.