Turkey Hits Back after New Mortar Fire from Syria, Rebels Capture Village near Border
Turkey hit back on Saturday against what it said was a fresh round of mortar fire from Syria, as monitors said rebels seized a Syrian border village after a fierce battle that left almost 30 dead.
Syria, for its part, said four Turks were among a convoy of "terrorists" killed in fighting in the heart of Aleppo, just hours after U.N. condemnation of deadly jihadist bombings in the commercial capital.
Turkish officials said they were sure a mortar round that struck on Saturday morning was fired by pro-government forces, and not rebels who have been fighting for nearly 19 months to oust President Bashar Assad.
The round prompted fresh retaliatory fire after reprisals on Wednesday and Thursday for the previous shelling, the Hatay provincial governor's office said.
"A mortar round struck today (Saturday) at 7:00 am (04:00 GMT) about 50 meters inside Turkish territory in an open space about 700 meters from the village of Guvecci and about 300 meters from a police station."
No casualties were reported.
The Turkish army responded with four mortar rounds, the governor's office said, adding that the Syrian fire had come from loyalists who were firing at rebels near the border.
The cross-border exchanges came despite unanimous condemnation from the U.N. Security Council on Thursday of deadly shelling from the Syrian side further east in Sanliurfa province that killed five people.
Following that incident, the Turkish parliament authorized further military action but Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he was not looking for a mandate for war.
In a new statement on Friday, the Security Council condemned bombings Wednesday claimed by a jihadist group that killed nearly 50 people in Aleppo, expressing condolences to families of the victims "of these heinous acts."
Source: Agence France Presse
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