Syrian Forces Open Fire at Turkish Border

Syrian refugees watch the border from Oncupinar Refugee Camp on April 9, in Kilis. Two other Syrians and a Turkish translator were wounded near a refugee camp in the same area when shots were fired from Syria. (IHA/AFP/Getty Images)

Syria has sparked tensions with neighboring Turkey after Syrian security forces fired across the border into a refugee camp, killing one and wounding four others.  The Syrian envoy to Ankara was summoned to account for the violence, and was told in definitive terms that Turkey would take action if such violence continued. “Syrian citizens who took refuge in our country from the brutality of the current regime in Syria are under Turkey’s full protection. We will certainly take necessary measures if such incidents reoccur,” read a statement by the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. “We strongly condemn this abominable incident which occurred at a time when the armed forces were supposed to withdraw in accordance with the mission of H.E. Mr.Kofi Annan,” said the statement then again called on the Syrian regime to end violence and the international community to act to ensure they do. The fighting spilled into Turkey started at 4 a.m. local time, when opposition groups attacked Syrian security forces at the Salameh border crossing, according to the U.K.-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Eight Syrian opposition fighters escaped the protracted gunfire to the refugee camp in the town of Kilis, in Turkey’s Gaziantep province. Five people were injured when security forces opened fire there, and one later died of their wounds. The Associated Press quoted Gaziantep Governor Yusuf Odabas as saying that the wounded included three Syrians, a Turkish policemen, and a Turkish translator who had entered the camp to quell the unrest.  The violence on Monday comes amid a mounting death toll. Activists from the Local Coordination Committees of Syria, claim that 75 were killed in a single day on Monday.  The Turkish foreign ministry said 21 wounded Syrian refugees arrived at the refugee camp on Monday, two of whom died after their arrival.  The United Nations has put the death toll at 9,000 since protests began around 13 months ago. The former U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan, who has been attempting to broker a shaky peace deal in Syria, will visit the refugee camp on Tuesday to ascertain the situation, AFP reported.