A Turkish soldier has been killed as Turkey’s military and ISIS fighters have exchanged fire over the Syrian-Turkish border.
The governor of Kilis province said another two soldiers were injured when a border post was attacked from Syria.
Turkey responded with heavy weapons, reportedly killing one ISIS militant.
It is the latest violence to hit Kurdish-dominated south-east Turkey, three days after 32 people were killed by a bomber linked to ISIS in Suruc.
Also on July 23, a Turkish traffic policeman was shot dead in the city of Diyarbakir. The officer and a colleague were attacked while attending a collision.
The second officer was badly injured. No group has yet said that it was behind the shooting of the officers.
“Unfortunately, one of our non-commissioned officers has been martyred and two sergeants injured,” Kilis Governor Suleyman Tapsiz told Turkey’s Anadolu news agency.
Suleyman Tapsiz added that the two wounded soldiers were in a stable condition.
In response, Turkish tanks opened fire on ISIS-controlled targets inside Syria, Turkish media report.
The two attacks on July 23 have added to the bloodshed in the area of Turkey nearest to ISIS-held territory.
On July 20, a suicide blast killed 32 people in the mainly Kurdish town of Suruc, near the Syrian border.
On July 22, two other policemen were shot dead in their home in Celanpinar, 100 miles from Suruc.
The military wing of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) said it was behind that attack.
They said it was revenge for the killings in Suruc, and said the men had collaborated with ISIS fighters.
On July 23, Turkish security forces arrested three people for killing the two men in Celanpinar, Anadolu said.
A 20-year-old Turkish student has been identified as the suicide bomber who killed the 32 youth activists in Suruc.
The attacker, named by local media as Seyh Abdurrahman Alagoz, was an ethnic Kurd from Turkey’s south-eastern province of Adiyaman and reportedly had links to ISIS militants.
Seyh Abdurrahman Alagoz’s mother told the newspaper Radikal that her son was a former student at Adiyaman university who had gone “abroad” six months ago with his brother.
“I don’t know what they were doing abroad, they never said. They were just telling me they were fine,” Semure Alagoz said.
A senior Turkish official told Reuters that he believed the bomber, who he did not name, had travelled to Syria last year with the help of a group linked to ISIS militants.
Many in Turkey feel the government has not done enough to support the Kurds in their fight to combat the threat of ISIS fighters across the border in Syria – something denied by Ankara.
On July 23, one ISIS fighter alleged to have crossed from Syria into Turkey was shot dead by the youth wing of the PKK in Istanbul.
The group said the man had travelled from Kobane to Istanbul for treatment seven months ago, and had been planning attacks in the city.
The suicide bomber who killed 32 youth activists in the Turkish town of Suruc has been identified, government officials say.
According to the DNA tests, the attacker was a 20-year-old Turkish student, named by local media as Seyh Abdurrahman Alagoz.
Seyh Abdurrahman Alagoz came from the south-eastern province of Adiyaman and was reportedly linked to ISIS militants.
Meanwhile, two Turkish police officers have been found dead in the town of Ceylanpinar near the Syrian border.
The officers were found with bullet wounds in the house they shared in the town, which is in the same province as Suruc.
The outlawed Kurdistan Worker’s Party (PKK) has claimed responsibility for the killings, saying it was in revenge for the massacre in Suruc and accusing the police officers of collaborating with ISIS.
At least one of the officers worked for an anti-terrorism task force, the AA news agency said.
Regional governor Izzetin Kucuk earlier said it was not yet clear “if there is a terrorist link”.
The suicide bombing on July 20 claimed 32 lives and injured 100 others, making it one of the deadliest attacks in Turkey in recent years.
The activists were mainly university students, who were holding a news conference when an explosion ripped through the Amara Cultural Centre.
They had been planning to travel to Syria to help rebuild the town of Kobane. The youngest victim was Okan Pirinc, who was 18, according to the Turkish media.
Seyh Abdurrahman Alagoz’s mother told the newspaper Radikal, that her son had gone “abroad” six months ago and returned 10 days ago.
A senior Turkish official told Reuters that he believed the bomber, who he did not name, had travelled to Syria last year with the help of a group linked to ISIS militants.
There were rallies in cities across the country on July 21, with people condemning the attack and protesting at the government’s policies on Syria.
Many feel Ankara has not done enough to combat the threat of ISIS militants.
However, PM Ahmet Davutoglu said Turkish leaders were committed to beating the group.
In a tweet, using the Arabic acronym for ISIS, Ahmet Davutoglu said: “I declare it to our esteemed nation and the entire world once again: Daesh and similar terrorist organizations will never achieve their target.”
PM Ahmet Davutoglu is due to chair a cabinet meeting on July 22 aimed at improving security on Turkey’s border with Syria.
According toTurkey’s PM Ahmet Davutoglu, a suspect has been identified in the suicide bomb attack that killed 32 young activists in Suruc.
PM Ahmet Davutoglu, who is due to visit the scene of the blast in Suruc near the Syrian border, said the suspect’s international and domestic links were being investigated.
There was a “high probability” that ISIS was to blame, he added.
The Turkish government has now vowed to increase security at the Syrian border.
“What’s necessary will be done against whomever responsible for [the attack],” said Ahmet Davutoglu.
“This is an attack that targeted Turkey,” he added.
Ahmet Davutoglu rejected claims that the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) had not done enough to combat ISIS militants, saying the government had “never tolerated any terrorist group”.
A cabinet meeting on July 22 will examine additional security measures along the border with Syria.
Officials initially suggested the bomber may have been female, but local media outlets have named a man in connection with the attack.
All rallies and marches in the city of Sanliurfa, where Suruc is located, have now been banned.
The governor of the city said the measure was aimed at preventing “undesirable occurrences”.
The funerals of some of the victims have already taken place, but many relatives are still awaiting news of their loved ones.
The youth activists, who were mainly university students, were holding a news conference when the bomb ripped through the cultural centre. They had been planning to travel to Syria to help rebuild the town of Kobane.
Social media images showed the group, who were members of the Federation of Socialist Youth Associations, relaxing over breakfast a few hours before the noon blast.
Ahmet Davutoglu is expected to visit the scene of the massacre later on Tuesday.
Suruc is home to many refugees who have fled fierce fighting between ISIS and Kurdish fighters in nearby Kobane.
A Turkish military convoy have entered into northern Syria and evacuated a historic Ottoman tomb and the soldiers guarding it.
Turkey’s PM Ahmet Davutoglu said the remains of Suleyman Shah would be moved elsewhere in Syria.
He said troops had destroyed the tomb’s complex, apparently to prevent it from being used by Islamic State (ISIS) militants.
Turkey considers the shrine be to sovereign territory.
Suleyman Shah was grandfather of the founder of the Ottoman Empire, Osman the first.
“We had given the Turkish armed forces a directive to protect our spiritual values and the safety of our armed forces personnel,” Ahmet Davutoglu said in televised remarks.
Earlier, in a series of tweets, Ahmet Davutoglu hailed the armed forces for carrying out a “highly successful” operation amid the “inherent risks” of conflict in Syria.
He said the remains had been moved to Turkey but would soon be rehoused in an area of Syria under Turkish military control, closer to the Turkish border.
The Turkish flag had already been raised over the site, Ahmet Davutoglu said.
There were no clashes with ISIS during the operation, but one soldier died in an accident, he added.
The operation began on Saturday at about 21:00 local time and ended on Sunday morning.
A large convoy, including 600 troops and almost tanks and armored vehicles, passed through Kobane – the city which Syrian Kurdish fighters retook last month from ISIS – and travelled some 20 miles south to the tomb on the banks of the Euphrates river.
Suleyman Shah is believed to have drowned in the river.
The tomb has been permanently guarded by a contingent of about 40 soldiers, who rotate periodically. The site is part of Turkish territory, according to a treaty signed in 1921.
The Turkish convoy was believed to be larger and more heavily armed than usual because of recent heavy fighting between the Kurdish militia and Syrian rebel groups against IS militants.
Since driving ISIS out of Kobane in January, the Kurdish Popular Protection Units and rebels have taken a number of surrounding villages.
They are now said to be only 15 miles from Tal Abyad – the strategically important border town east of Kobane that is used by ISIS militants to cross into Turkey.
ISIS has seized large swathes in Syria and Iraq, proclaiming a caliphate.
According to new reports, at least 553 people are said to have died in a month in the Kurdish town of Kobane, Syria, under Islamic State (ISIS) attack.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based Syrian opposition body which monitors the conflict, counted 298 IS fighters among the dead.
US aircraft have bombed ISIS positions as Kurdish fighters cling on to the town’s vital border crossing with Turkey.
However, the defenders say they are outgunned on the ground.
“The supply of fighters is very good…” Kobane official Idris Nassan told Reuters news agency.
“But fighters coming without arms, without weaponry, is not going to make a critical difference.”
Correspondents watched from just over the border in Turkey on Saturday, October 11, as fighting raged for the town.
Turkey, wary of its recent long conflict with its own large Kurdish population, has ruled out any unilateral ground intervention.
Some 200,000 Syrian Kurdish refugees have crossed the border since the ISIS advance began nearly a month ago.
At least 553 people are said to have died in a month of fighting for Kobane
Meanwhile, fighting has continued in Iraq, where ISIS overran large parts of the north during the summer.
According to the Observatory, the true figure for deaths in the siege of Kobane could be more than 1,100 since the ISIS attack began on September 16.
Of the deaths it has been able to document, 226 are of Kurdish fighters and nine are of other Syrian opposition fighters, who were fighting on their side.
Of the 20 civilian deaths recorded, 17 were victims of ISIS executions, it said.
Kobane resounded to small-arms fire and explosions on Saturday following the failure of a pre-dawn ISIS offensive to take more ground.
According to the Pentagon, US air strikes on ISIS targets at Kobane since October 10 have hit an ISIS fighting position; damaged a command and control facility; destroyed a staging building; struck two small units of fighters; and destroyed three lorries.
Idris Nassan said the air strikes had helped the Kurdish fighters regain some territory in the south of the city but they were not enough.
“A few days ago, [ISIS] attacked with a Humvee vehicle, they use mortars, cannons, tanks,” he said.
“We don’t need just Kalashnikovs and bullets. We need something effective since they captured many tanks and military vehicles in Iraq.”
In Europe, at least 20,000 Kurds living in Germany marched in the city of Duesseldorf on Saturday to highlight the threat to Kurds in Kobane.
At a smaller rally in the Austrian town of Bregenz, two people were stabbed and seriously wounded when Kurdish protesters clashed with a rival demonstration, said to involve Turks and Chechens.
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