Turkey: tit-for-tat attacks continue along Syrian border

A soldier has been killed and another wounded in Turkey by cross-border gunfire near the border town of Kilis.

BREAKING – Local sources: Armed conflict breaks out between Turkish soldiers and ISIS in Elbeyli district of Kilis pic.twitter.com/maJupCQibj

— DAILYSABAH (@DailySabah) July 23, 2015

It follows the killing of a Turkish police officer earlier on Thursday in the mainly Kurdish city of Diyarbakir.

On Tuesday, two police officers where killed in an attack in Ceylanpinar, admitted to by Kurdish militants.

The tit-for-tat attacks began when a suicide bomber targeted a group of pro-Kurdish activists in the town of Suruç on Tuesday. The atrocity has been widely attributed to the self-titled group, Islamic State.

The government is promising to tighten security along the Syrian border.

“By building walls, the aim is to block the terrorists’ path and prevent smuggling,” Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc told reporters. “The plan is also to direct the flow of refugees through the main entrance points along the border.”

But people here are angry and it has brought them onto the streets.

There are those who suspect Turkey’s governing AK Party of covertly backing IS against Kurdish fighters in Syria, something the government has repeatedly denied.