Turkey strikes against IS fighters in Syria

A senior Turkish official, Ali Yerlikaya, confirmed Thursday that mortar shells were fired from an area controlled by the self-declared "Islamic State" (IS) based in Syria into Karkamis. The shells damaged a howitzer cannon belonging to the Turkish army, but no casualties were reported. IS claimed in an online statement that it had hit three tanks.

Yerlikaya told the state-run Anadolu Agency that the Turkish army responded by attacking IS targets across the border.

So far this year, cross-border rocket attacks from Syria have killed 18 people in the Turkish border town of Kilis, which is 150 kilometers (93 miles) west of Karkamis.

Turkey said that the US is to deploy a rocket launcher system in southeastern Turkey, across the border from Syria.

Kurdish fighters clash with Syrian rebels

Meanwhile, Kurdish fighters and Syrian rebels continue to clash in the north of Aleppo province near the Turkish border, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The fighting broke out Wednesday night as rebels tried to capture Tal Riffat, a Kurdish-held town. The clashes left at least 53 rebels and 11 members of the Kurdish-Arab alliance, the Syrian Democratic Council, dead.

shs/ jm (AP, Reuters)