Turkey reopens Syrian border gate after intra-rebels fighting

KİLİS

Turkey reopened an important border gate with Syria on Nov. 17, two days after an outbreak of fighting across the frontier between two fractions of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) rebels that are fighting the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in northern Syria as part of the Euphrates Shield Operation.

The Öncüpınar crossing point in the southeastern province of Kilis has reopened, Kilis Governor İsmail Çataklı told state-run Anadolu Agency. 

On Nov. 14 Turkey temporarily closed the gate but Çataklı said on Nov. 17 that the situation on the Syrian side had returned to normal. 

The crossing, which is a major point for traffic between Turkey and opposition-held areas of northern Syria, lies around six kilometers (four miles) from the Syrian town of Azaz, which is controlled by Turkey-backed opposition groups. 

Meanwhile, at least 13 people were killed and dozens were injured by a car bomb on Nov. 17 which targeted a building used by a rebel group in Azaz, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said, according to Reuters. 
Yasser al-Yousef, from the political office of the Nour al-Din al-Zinki rebel group which controls the building, put the death toll higher at 25 and said 13 of the dead were Nour al-Din al-Zinki fighters. 

It said the car bomb targeted a security office belonging to the group. 

Azaz, controlled by rebel groups, has been the scene of  infighting between the various insurgent groups.