News / Turkey

Turks criticize government inaction over Daesh rocket attacks

Monday, 25 April 2016 5:53 AM [ Last Update: Monday, 25 April 2016 8:11 AM ]

Locals protest the breakdown of security as they argue with police in Kilis, April 24, 2016. (Photo by Reuters)

Angry residents in a Turkish town near the Syrian border have rallied to condemn government policies after coming under a fresh rocket attack by Daesh terrorists.

The protesters marched on the streets of of Kilis, which is located approximately 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) north of the border with Syria.

The protest rally came after two rockets slammed into a poor neighborhood of the town earlier on Sunday, killing one person and injuring 26 others.

The demonstrators converged in front of the governor’s office, where Deputy Prime Minister Yalcin Akdogan was holding talks with local authorities at the time.

Scuffles broke out when riot police intervened, spraying the protesters with water cannon and firing tear gas canisters to disperse them as they hurled stones in response.

The protest came only a day after Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu pledged to protect residents of Kilis against repeated rocket attacks by Daesh militants.

Akdogan said since January, 45 rocket projectiles have hit Kilis in which 16 citizens have lost their lives and 62 others been injured.

A mother and her children react after two rockets hit the Turkish town of Kilis near the Syrian border, Turkey, April 24, 2016. (Photo by Reuters)

“Unfortunately, there is no authority across our borders. Terrorist organizations are running wild. There are different types of militant organizations. The developments across our border may affect Turkey as well,” he said.

According to local authorities, Syria-based Takfiri terrorists cross the border, open fire on Turkish towns on motorbikes and retreat.

Turkey has frequently used such attacks as a pretext to shell the Syrian territory or send troops into the Arab country.

Ankara is widely known to be supporting militant groups fighting to topple the Syrian government since March 2011. It also stands accused of being involved in illegal oil trade with Daesh, a charge which Turkey vehemently denies.

In late May 2015, Turkish-language Cumhuriyet newspaper posted on its website footage purportedly showing trucks belonging to Turkey’s National Intelligence Organization (MIT) carrying weapons for militant groups in neighboring Syria.

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