Turkey opens retaliatory fire into Syrian territory

Turkish security forces near Syrian border fire back in retaliation against stray bullets coming from the Syrian side, Turkish military said on Wednesday. "The army unit in Cenkeser Border Post responded to the fire from Syrian territory as part of engagement rules," a written statement issued by the General Staff of the Turkish Armed Forces said. Clashes have been ongoing in Syria's border district of Ras al- Ain since Tuesday noon between Syrian rebel fighters and members of Democratic Union Party, a Syrian Kurdish armed party with links to the outlawed Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK), the statement said, adding two teenagers were killed in the fighting. In October 2012, a mortar bomb fired from the Syrian side landed in the southeastern Turkish town of Akcakale, killing a woman and four children and wounding at least 13 others. The PKK took up arms in 1984 in an attempt to create an ethnic homeland in southeastern Turkey. Ankara started peace negotiations with the group's jailed leader Abdullah Ocalan last October. On March 21, Ocalan made an announcement of ceasefire and withdrawal of militants from Turkey, which was positively responded by his group.