The private Dogan news agency says the mortar that struck the town Tuesday was sacked from Jarablus, a Syrian border town controlled by the Islamic State group.
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Police warned residents through loudspeakers to evacuate from “for safety reasons” from Karkamis which was hit by a series of mortar bombs fired from IS-held areas.
Turkish forces also pounded the extremists in Syria with new artillery strikes after a deadly suicide bombing in the city of Gaziantep at the weekend and repeated rocket fire across the border.
Turkey on Tuesday ordered residents to evacuate a Turkish border town that lies opposite the Syrian town of Jarabulus controlled by ISIS militants, television reported.
A writer for the Hurriyet newspaper, Abdulkadir Selvi, said Turkey’s offensive in Jarablus could start soon at any time.
Turkey opposed Kurdish gains in the nearby town of Manbij that was liberated by the SDF this month with US help.
Located 20 miles (33 kilometers) from the town of Manbij, which was liberated from IS by Kurdish-led forces earlier this month, taking control of Jarablus and the IS-held town of al-Bab to the south would be a significant step toward linking up border areas under Kurdish control east and west of the Euphrates River.
With tensions flaring on the Turkey-Syria border following the bombing in the nearby city of Gaziantep that left 54 people dead, Turkish howitzers on Monday hit militant and Kurdish rebel targets across the frontier.
Mevlut Cavusoglu, the Turkish foreign minister, said yesterday that the border…
“We do not want Daesh to exist in Iraq and Syria”, he said, adding that the operation was important for Turkey’s security. YPG are considered a terrorist organization in Turkey.
Media reports suggest Turkey is preparing Syrian rebel forces to cross the border to take the city of Jarabulus.
Its military hit four IS positions in Jarabulus with around 60 shells early this morning after firing on IS and Democratic Union Party (PYD) Kurdish militia targets on Monday evening.
Syrian rebels said this week that Turkey is planning to help them launch an attack on Jarablus, in a move that could cause fresh tensions with the Kurds and the US. There was no confirmation of this from Turkish sources.
US Vice-President Joe Biden is set to visit Turkey today in a bid to turn President Recep Tayyip Erdogan away from detente with Russia, Iran and Syria and back towards the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation imperialist alliance.
Security officials walk past an exhibit inside the mausoleum of Turkey’s founder Kemal Ataturk as Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim, military commanders and ministers visit the mausoleum to pay respects, in Ankara, Turkey, Tuesday, Aug. 23, 2016.
Turkey had always been accused of turning a blind eye to the rise of IS – charges it vehemently denies – but has taken a tougher line following attacks at home.
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Ankara is concerned about the growing power of USA -backed Syrian Kurdish forces, who it says are linked to Kurdish groups waging an insurgency in southeastern Turkey.
