In a statement published on Thursday, the Turkish military said it had returned fire at ISIS targets.
The development came after a rocket hit a market area in the center of Kilis, wounding six people, including five children. Unidentified police sources said the rocket was fired from a ISIS-controlled area inside Syria. Footage aired by CNN Turk showed windows shattering and dust rising from smashed concrete as a result of the incident.
Local governor Ismail Catakli said in a statement that all the injured were Syrian nationals.
Meanwhile, Mayor Hasan Kara said none of the victims’ injuries were life threatening.
Kilis hosts many Syrian refugees who have fled foreign-sponsored militancy in their homeland.
The Turkish town has come under repeated rocket attacks in the past few months, with 22 people losing their lives, over half of them Syrian refugees.
Thursday’s incident comes almost one month into Turkey’s unprecedented incursion into neighboring Syria.
Turkish troops drive their tanks on a road near the Syrian village of al-Waqf, September 4, 2016. (Photo by AFP)
On August 24, Turkish Special Forces, tanks and jets backed by planes from the US-led coalition launched their first coordinated offensive in Syria.
Damascus has denounced Turkey's military intervention as a breach of its sovereignty.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the operation, dubbed "Euphrates Shield," was aimed at “terror groups” such as ISIS and the Democratic Union Party (PYD), a US-backed Kurdish group based in Syria.
Syria has been the scene of a foreign-backed crisis since March 2011. Turkey is said to be among the main supporters of the militant groups active in Syria, with reports saying that Ankara actively trains and arms the Takfiri elements there and facilitates their safe passage into the conflict-ridden country.
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