Turkey Retaliates to Syrian Shelling

Oct. 3, 2012 - By UMIT ENGINSOY Defense News

ANKARA — Turkey on late Oct. 2 retaliated to earlier shelling of its territory by Syrian forces, the prime minister’s office said. It was not clear if there were casualties.

“Our artillery forces immediately retaliated to Syria, acting on targets determined by our radars,” it said. “The targets were hit. We will not leave such provocations unanswered in the future,” it said in a written statement.

Syrian shells killed five people and injured another nine when they exploded in the neighboring Turkish town of Akcakale, Turkish televisions reported.

“A mother and four of her children were killed when a Syrian shell exploded in their garden,” said a report by the Haberturk television. “Another nine people were injured, two of them seriously,” it added.

Turkey, which earlier said it was not clear if the attack was launched by the Syrian government or the rebels, later ruled that it was the Syrian regime that was responsible.

Syria did not say if the Turkish shelling caused any casualties.

The U.S. expressed “outrage” over the Syrian attack. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the U.S. is consulting its NATO ally on what she termed a “very dangerous situation.”

“This is over. The Syrians did something nasty, and the Turks retaliated. We are not expecting this to turn into something more serious,” said a European Union diplomat here.

It’s not the first scuffle between the two countries. Syria on June 22 downed a Turkish RF-4 fighter jet, saying it was operating in its airspace.