Blast Hits Damascus Police HQ as Turkey Retaliates to New Syrian Shelling
One person was killed in a car bomb attack on a street in central Damascus on Sunday where the police headquarters is located, Syrian state media said, as the Turkish army returned fire after a shell launched from Syria struck the southeastern Turkish border village of Akcakale, where five civilians were killed last week.
"A martyr fell in the terrorist attack," said the official news agency SANA, shortly after state television reported the car bombing on Khaled bin al-Walid Avenue.
Witnesses told Agence France Presse the blast was followed by heavy gunfire, while the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said it detonated near police headquarters causing casualties.
Jihadist groups claimed responsibility for a bomb attack on the armed forces headquarters in Damascus on September 26 that the authorities said killed four guards.
Meanwhile, the Turkish military retaliated Sunday after a shell launched from Syria struck the southeastern Turkish border village of Akcakale, where five civilians were killed last week, the local mayor said.
The Syrian shell landed in the grounds of a public building and there were no casualties, Mayor Abdulhakim Ayhan told Anatolia, the semi-official news agency.
"Thank God there were no victims. Turkish artillery immediately responded to the shots that came from Syria," Ayhan said.
There was minor damage to the building, which had been previously evacuated, Turkish media said.
Since the deadly shelling of Wednesday, the Turkish military has responded in kind whenever Syrian ordnance has breached its territory.
The deadly bombing was the most serious incident between Damascus and Ankara since Syrian anti-aircraft fire brought down a Turkish fighter jet in June.
That incident inflamed tensions between the former allies and renewed fears of a broader conflict. Nearly 80 percent of towns and villages along the Turkish border are outside the control of Damascus, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
The Turkish parliament on Thursday gave the government the green light to use military force against Syria if necessary.
The U.N. Security Council on Thursday strongly condemned cross-border attacks by Syria and called for restraint between the two neighbors.
Source: Agence France Presse
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