[h=3]By AYLA ALBAYRAK And JOE PARKINSON[/h]HACIPASA, Turkey—Turkey scrambled two fighter jets to the border with Syria for the first time since July after a Syrian military helicopter bombed the Syrian border town of Azmarin, eyewitnesses said, underlining heightened tensions along the neighbors' long border.
The F-16 fighter jets flew along the border shortly after 2 p.m. local time, following heavy fighting in between rebels and Syrian government forces in Azmarin, a Syrian border town opposed to President Bashar al-Assad's rule.
ReutersSmoke, caused by mortar bombs and gunfire during clashes between the Syrian Army and rebels, rises from the Syrian border town of Azmarin.
Booming explosions and the rattle of machine guns around Azmarin could be heard Friday morning from the small Turkish border town of Hacipasa. The Syrian region close to this border has seen heavy clashes for the past week, with 70 wounded brought from Azmarin on Friday alone.
One eyewitness said the Syrian attack helicopter retreated when the Turkish jets flew along the border.
Turkey's move on Friday to scramble jets close to the fighting inside Syria comes amid a sharp escalation of tensions along the shared 565-mile frontier.
Turkey's military has been firing artillery into Syria almost daily for the past week since Oct. 3, when a Syrian shell killed five Turkish civilians in the border town of Akcakale. Ankara's top military commander this week warned that Ankara would launch a tougher response if Syrian shells continued to land on Turkish territory.
Friday's move to scramble jets underlines escalated tensions along the border, but it isn't the first time Turkey has dispatched its fighters during the Syrian crisis. In July, after a Turkish F4 Phantom jet was shot down by Syrian forces, Ankara dispatched F16 fighters from Incirlik base in southern Turkey in response to Syrian helicopters flying near the province of Hatay. Two more F16s were scrambled from a base in the eastern city of Batman after Syrian helicopters were spotted close to the Turkish city of Mardin.
Write to Joe Parkinson at [email protected]
The F-16 fighter jets flew along the border shortly after 2 p.m. local time, following heavy fighting in between rebels and Syrian government forces in Azmarin, a Syrian border town opposed to President Bashar al-Assad's rule.
ReutersSmoke, caused by mortar bombs and gunfire during clashes between the Syrian Army and rebels, rises from the Syrian border town of Azmarin.
Booming explosions and the rattle of machine guns around Azmarin could be heard Friday morning from the small Turkish border town of Hacipasa. The Syrian region close to this border has seen heavy clashes for the past week, with 70 wounded brought from Azmarin on Friday alone.
One eyewitness said the Syrian attack helicopter retreated when the Turkish jets flew along the border.
Turkey's move on Friday to scramble jets close to the fighting inside Syria comes amid a sharp escalation of tensions along the shared 565-mile frontier.
Turkey's military has been firing artillery into Syria almost daily for the past week since Oct. 3, when a Syrian shell killed five Turkish civilians in the border town of Akcakale. Ankara's top military commander this week warned that Ankara would launch a tougher response if Syrian shells continued to land on Turkish territory.
Friday's move to scramble jets underlines escalated tensions along the border, but it isn't the first time Turkey has dispatched its fighters during the Syrian crisis. In July, after a Turkish F4 Phantom jet was shot down by Syrian forces, Ankara dispatched F16 fighters from Incirlik base in southern Turkey in response to Syrian helicopters flying near the province of Hatay. Two more F16s were scrambled from a base in the eastern city of Batman after Syrian helicopters were spotted close to the Turkish city of Mardin.
Write to Joe Parkinson at [email protected]