Syria Launches Another Artillery Strike Against Turkey
A Syrian artillery shell landed on Turkish territory Sunday evening some 200 meters away from apartment buildings, and 150 meters from the Syrian border, killing or injuring no one.
The latest shell landed on a vacant land in Hatay province in southern Turkey.
“Our border troops immediately returned fire. We believe the mortar attack was by Syrian security forces,” said a written statement released by Hatay Governor’s Office.
The incident came just hours after another mortar shell fired from Syrian territory landed in the town of Akcakal where five people died as a result of a similar attack on Friday.
Turkey strikes back after Syrian shell hits border town
Turkey’s military fired an artillery round into Syria on Sunday in immediate retaliation after a shell fired from Syrian landed in the Turkish border town of Akcakale, the Dogan news agency reported, the second such incident in five days.
The latest Syrian shell hit land near a plant belonging to the Turkish Grain Board, several hundred metres from the centre of Akcakale, where five civilians were killed on Wednesday in previous Syrian shelling.
There were no immediate reports of casualties in the latest incident.
Syrian opposition allegedly captures Assad’s cousin
The so-called Syrian Free Army has claimed that it had captured President Bashar Assad’s cousin Houssam al-Assad.
This was announced on Sunday by one of the leaders of the Syrian branch of the radical Islamist organization Salafia.
The Syrian Free Army is the main armed force of the Syrian opposition and consists mainly of deserters from the country’s governmental army.
Syrian forces foil infiltration attempt
Syrian forces have crushed a rebel invasion from across the border with Lebanon and retaken control of the main road from Lebanon to Damascus.
The rebels are reported to have lost several men killed.
In a related development, government troops have continued a massive offensive to dislodge gunmen of the Free Syrian Army from their positions outside the western city of Homs.
Syria opposition forces retreat from Aleppo
Syria’s opposition forces continue to retreat from Aleppo, news reports said on Sunday, citing Tariq al-Bab, a neighborhood of Aleppo, which is still being controlled by militants.
In another development, more than 160 rebels were killed in the city of Homs earlier today as army units launch a series of attacks on militants in other districts.
On Saturday, Syrian Defense Minister Fahd Jassem al-Freij signaled the army’s determination to “clear the country of mercenaries, terrorists, Wahhabis and members of other extremist groups.”
