ISIL fires five mortar shells near Turkish border post

GAZİANTEP – Doğan News Agency

DHA photo

Five mortar shells targeting a border military post in the Karkamış district of the southeastern province of Gaziantep were fired on April 28 from the Jarabulus province in northern Syria, controlled by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).

“One of the artillery shells that landed near the Türkyurdu border military post hit a howitzer stationed on the border. There was minor damage to the howitzer and there were no casualties. ISIL positions were shelled by howitzers following the incident,” Gaziantep Governor Ali Yerlikaya said, adding that three of the shells landed in an empty field.

A small fire also broke out on the roof of the border post but was extinguished by firefighters.

Security sources stated that a group of ISIL militants who were spotted by drones and radars had been killed by Turkish forces.

Meanwhile, 11 ISIL militants were killed in Turkish artillery shellings following the attack, sources in the region have said.
The Türkyurdu neighborhood was evacuated following the shelling and roads to the district were closed to traffic.

Additional armored vehicles and howitzers were also deployed from nearby military posts.

The Gaziantep Governor’s Office also stated that the area around the Köprübatı Border Post had been declared as a restricted security zone for 15 days starting from April 29.

Turkey’s border provinces have experienced intense shelling from ISIL-controlled regions in northern Syria in recent months.

Recently, two Katyushas fired from Syria hit a mosque just 100 meters from the governor’s office in the southeastern province of Kilis on April 24. Two people were killed in the incident.

Eighteen people have been killed in rocket attacks since Jan. 18 in Kilis.