Turkish troops have responded to shells that were reportedly fired from inside Syrian territory into Turkey on Tuesday.
Two mortar shells were fired from Syria toward the Turkish border town of Karkamis and then three rocket shells hit Kilis, another border town 80 kilometers (50 miles) away.
The shells,which hit Karkamis did not cause casualties and were apparently fired during clashes between Syrian rebels and Islamic State militants in northern Syria, state-run Anadolu Agency said according to reuters.
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Reports say that the Turkish military fired 60 shells at four ISIS targets in Syria.
Press TV reports:
The Turkish military retaliated both attacks with counterattacks on Kurdish positions and alleged targets belonging to the Daesh terror group inside Syria.
It is not yet clear whether the exchanges of fire led to any casualties.
Daesh, widely reported to be enjoying safe passage into and outside Syria through Turkish soil besides receiving other types of support, has been staging several deadly attacks across the Turkish territory over the past months.
The country has also been coming under attack by the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) militants, whose positions it has been heavily pounding inside Iraq. Turkish authorities have also been leading a deadly crackdown in the country’s southeast to quell Kurdish militants there.
The so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, meanwhile, reported that the first Turkish counterattack on Tuesday was aimed at the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD), which Ankara associates with the PKK.
The Kurdish fighters are moving from the town of Manbij — which they recently freed from Daesh — toward Jarablus, another town held by the terror group.
Niamh Harris
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