1 killed' in Turkey by Daesh fire from Syria

One person was killed and at least two wounded Tuesday when eight rockets fired from a jihadist-controlled area of Syrian territory slammed into the Turkish border town of Kilis, reports said.

Some of the Katyusha-type rockets hit empty areas but one caused casualties, Turkish media quoted Kilis mayor Hasan Kara as saying.

One person was killed and two people wounded, one of them seriously, he said.

The Dogan news agency said that the rockets had been fired from an area in Syria controlled by Islamic State (IS) jihadists.

The Turkish army then struck back by firing on IS positions in Syria according to the rules of engagement, it quoted security sources as saying.

It is the first such incident since January 18, when a rocket fired from an IS-controlled position in Syria killed a janitor and wounded a pupil at a school in Kilis.

The latest attack comes after Turkish armed forces launched artillery strikes on repeated occasions in the last two weeks on IS positions in Syria.

A fragile ceasefire backed by Turkey has taken effect in Syria, but the deal does not apply to territory held by the IS group and Al-Qaeda affiliate Al-Nusra Front.

From mid-February, Turkish artillery had also on successive days shelled targets of the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) inside Syria, with the military saying it was responding to incoming fire.

But Turkey has not shelled any positions held by Syrian Kurdish fighters inside Syria since the ceasefire was implemented on February 27.

Washington had urged Ankara to halt its fire on the PYD and its People's Protection Units (YPG) militia.
Source: AFP