Turkey returns fire after shots fired from Syria

HATAY

Turkey’s military said today it has returned fire after shots were fired at an armored personnel carrier from across the border with Syria. DHA photo

Turkey’s military said today it has returned fire after shots were fired at an armored personnel carrier from across the border with Syria.

The military said a group of around eight to 10 people from across the border fired toward the vehicle on June 2 as it was patrolling an area near the Syrian border in the southern province of Hatay. Turkish forces returned fire as the gunmen escaped further into Syria.

Turkey has repeatedly struck the Syrian military in response to shelling and mortar rounds that landed on its territory. On June 30, gunmen fired at a military vehicle near the same area.

Meanwhile, an Istanbul-plated car was stopped and 1.5 tons of granulated sugar were seized by the Turkish army near the Syrian border on June 3, the military said. The people inside the vehicle refused to stop the car despite demands to do so from security forces in the Türkyurdu outpost in the southeastern province of Gaziantep, resulting in soldiers firing warning shots. When the car continued, soldiers fired toward the car, wounding a Syrian man who was subsequently taken into hospital in Turkey. Another man in the car was taken into custody.