Militants of the self-proclaimed Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) fired shots from across the border in Syria which struck and killed an officer and wounded five soldiers in Turkey’s southern Kilis province on Thursday.
Local sources reported that Turkish soldiers and militants of ISIS are in an armed conflict at the Çobanbey town located across from the Elbeyli village connected to the Kilis province.
It has been reported that first Turkish tanks took gunfire as light weapons were used in response to the attack. The Ayyaşe Turkmen village, which is located close to the border has been completely evacuated to nearby villages.
Turkey retaliated immediately with 4 tanks within rules of engagement, hit opposing ISIS posts, Turkey’s Office of Public Diplomacy said in a statement.
Turkish Air Force dispatched multiple F-16 fighter jets from Diyarbakır airbase to the conflict zone on the Turkey-Syria border, Turkey’s Ihlas News Agency reported.
Security forces came under fire from Syria, Kilis Governor Süleyman Tapsız told Turkey’s official Anadolu Agency. Turkish forces responded by targeting positions across the border. Reports suggested one ISIS militant was killed.
“Unfortunately, one of our officers, Yalçın Nane, has been martyred and two sergeants injured,” Tapsız said.
The wounded sergeants, Fatih Kurt and Necef Çakmaktepe, have been taken to Kilis State Hospital and are in stable condition, he added.
The incident came after the murder of two policemen by the outlawed PKK on Wednesday and a deadly suicide bombing in Suruç on Monday that killed 32 people. Both incidents took place in Turkey’s southeastern Şanlıurfa province, near the Syrian border.
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