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Deadly rocket salvo strikes Turkish school

January 18, 2016

Casualties have been reported after deadly explosions rocked a health center near a school in Turkey's southeastern border province of Kilis hit by shelling. Turkish military says it has retaliated "in kind."

https://p.dw.com/p/1HfBv
Türkei Explosion in Kilis
Image: picture-alliance/AA/I. Mazi

At least one person was killed Monday when rockets landed near a school in the Turkish town of Kilis on the Syrian border, Turkish officials said.

The private broadcaster NTV showed pictures of the wounded being rushed to the public hospital. Authorities said a rocket fired from Syria had killed a female school employee and wounded a female student. Two other rockets appeared to have landed harmlessly in an empty field, the local governor's office said in a statement.

Shelling near Turkish school on Syrian border

The mayor of Kilis, Hasan Kara told NTV that the Eyup Gokceimam middle school has been evacuated.

"It seems that the shelling came from the south," Kara said. "The people should not allow provocations. Kilis residents should stay calm."

Meanwhile, Turkey's military says radar showed that the fire had originated from "Islamic State" outposts inside Syria, the Reuters news agency reported. The Turkish army retaliated "in kind" against the Islamist militants after the firing.

Early images from Kilis

Kilis lies on the edge of a roughly 100-kilometer (60-mile) strip of Syrian border territory controlled by the self-styled "Islamic State." Turkish towns in the region have frequently seen artillery fire spill over during Syria's five-year civil war.

Kilis has the distinction of being the only town in Turkey with a majority Syrian refugee population. Cross-border shelling has in the past ratcheted up tensions between Turkey and Syria.

jar/rc (Reuters, AFP)