Turkish Army returns fire across Syrian border

In the third such incident this week, the Turkish Army returned fire coming from across the border with Syria on Monday as confrontations flared up anew between Kurdish fighters loyal to Damascus and Syrian opposition militia along the international borderline. An army command statement said troops along the southern borders opened fire on targets within Syrian territory in response to attacks from those spots, in the third such incident this very week. "The army took appropriate measures against the external threat in accordance with the set rules of engagement approved by the government in this regard," it said. The statement did not specify the nature of the targets attacked in the retaliation, but the army assured "the threat was eliminated." Five Turkish soldiers were injured Friday in a shooting with suspected smugglers who attacked an army patrol car near the Hatay border area in southern Turkey. Another military vehicle was attacked Sunday evening while on patrol in the border area. The vehicle came under fire from the Syrian side, but the army statement that followed said there were no injuries. A Turkish military post returned the fire and blasted militant locations within Syrian territory, causing many deaths and injuries, according to the statement. The Turkish army had last week sent more reinforcements to the borderline areas after repeated Syrian-Turkish exchanges of fire and amid intensifying clashes between Al-Assad's loyalists and opponents along the borders aiming to seize control of border towns and regions.