Israel Matzav

Turkish army attacks targets in Syria after woman and four children in Turkey killed by mortar fire from Syria

Israel is not the only neighboring country to be affected by fighting in Syria. A woman and four of her children in the town of Akcakale in southern Turkey were killed on Wednesday, when a mortar fired from Syria struck their home. Eight other people were wounded.

A cloud of dust and smoke rose up over low-rise buildings as residents ran to help the wounded. Others, infuriated by the increasing spillover of violence from Syria's civil war, took to the streets shouting protests against the local authorities.

Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu phoned UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to brief him about the incident and also spoke with senior military officials and Syria crisis mediator Lakhdar Brahimi, his ministry said in a statement.

Davutoglu signaled over the weekend that Turkey would take action if there was a repeat of a mortar strike which damaged homes and workplaces in Akcakale last Friday.

"It (latest mortar round) hit right in the middle of the neighborhood. The wife and four children from the same family died," Ahmet Emin Meshurgul, local head of the Turkish Red Crescent, told Reuters, adding he knew the victims personally.

"People here are anxious, because we got hit before. Security forces tried to convince people to empty the neighborhood near the border, but now we've been hit right in the middle of the town," he said.
A Reuters witness saw three police officers among the wounded being taken to hospital.

 It's just Muslims killing Muslims, so there's nothing to see here. The world won't care. Now, if we can get some Jews involved, people might be interested....

Oh, and by the way, Turkish artillery started shelling Syria after this incident, 'as a warning.'

Israel Radio reported just after 9:00 pm that the Turkish army is attacking targets in northern Syria near the Turkish border. This is part of a statement issued by Prime Minister Erdogan's office.

"Our armed forces in the border region responded immediately to this abominable attack in line with their rules of engagement; targets were struck through artillery fire against places in Syria identified by radar," the statement said.

"Turkey will never leave unanswered such kinds of provocation by the Syrian regime against our national security."

Turkey has also called for an urgent NATO meeting. Hmmm.

Labels: Syrian uprising, Turkey

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 10:17 PM