Saturday, May 11, 2013

Turkey-Syria border town hit by car bombs

From The Telegraph.

(File Photo)



Turkey-Syria border town hit by car bombs

Syria's civil war spilled over the border into southern Turkey on Saturday when 13 people died in a series of car bomb explosions in the town of Reyhanli.


This incident was the most serious attack on Turkey linked to the Syrian civil war.

Four explosions happened near the town hall of Reyhanli, located in the Turkish province of Hatay. Muammer Guler, the Turkish interior minister, told local media that 13 people had been killed and 22 wounded. Reyhanli, with a population of about 60,000, is found near the Cilvegozu border crossing with Syria.

Turkey has openly supported the rebels fighting President Bashar al-Assad's regime, allowing them to arm, train and recruit using bases inside its territory. Syria has frequently responded by firing artillery shells and mortar bombs over the border into its neighbour.

In the past, the Turkish army has often retaliated in kind. After the Akcakale incident, when a mother and her three daughters were among the dead, Turkey responded by firing shells into Syria. It was not immediately clear whether Turkey had responded to Saturday's incident.

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