(Akcakale) – Turkey’s military fired an artillery round into Syria in immediate retaliation after a shell fired from Syria landed in the Turkish border town of Akcakale, the second such incident in five days. Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan has warned Syria earlier that Turkey would not shy away from war if provoked, but a series of mortar bombs fired from Syria have hit Turkey since then.
The exchanges are the most serious cross-border violence in Syria’s conflict, which began as pro-democracy protests, but has evolved into a civil war with sectarian overtones.