ISTANBUL: Eight civilians were killed and 35 injured in a mortar attack by Kurdish forces on a Turkish border town on Friday, the local governor´s office said.
Turkish authorities say eight civilians have been killed in a Turkish border town following a mortar attack from Kurdish-held Syria, bringing the civilian death toll in Turkey since the beginning of its cross-border offensive to 17.
The governor’s office of Mardin Province said in a statement Friday that 35 others were wounded in the border town of Nusaybin.
Nusaybin is across the border from Ras al-Ayn, which is part of northeastern Syria controlled by the People’s Protection Units, or YPG. Turkey launched an offensive against the group, which it says is linked to an outlawed Kurdish insurgency at home, saying it will not allow any territorial area near its border to be run by Kurdish forces.
Dozens of mortar shells from YPG territory have landed in Turkey since Wednesday, when the offensive began. More than 100 people have been wounded.
