A Turkish soldier was shot dead at the border with Syria in southern Turkey by an unidentified assailant who opened fire from Syrian territory, the Dogan news agency reported on Thursday.
The shooting occurred in the Reyhanli district of Turkey's Hatay province. Dogan gave no further details and the shooting could not immediately be confirmed, according to Reuters.
One soldier was killed and another is still missing after a cross-border shooting with Islamic State fighters last week near the Turkish town of Kilis, further east. Turkey's Hurriyet newspaper said on Saturday that the missing soldier had been seen in a hospital run by Islamic State.
If confirmed, his capture could become a major challenge for Turkey, after it stepped up military action against Islamic State in July, opening its air bases to U.S.-led coalition war planes and launching air strikes.
In response, Turkish authorities have closed Bab al-Hawa border crossing with Syria.
Late last
month, Islamic State released a video accusing Turkish President Tayyip
Erdogan of "treachery", and urged Turks to rise up against him.
In response, Turkish authorities have closed Bab al-Hawa border crossing with Syria, according to Zaman al-Wasl reporter.
The deteriorating situation on the turkish border pushed Ankara to close most of its crossing with Syria that have been taken by rebels from Syrian regime.
Activists said the border closure has carried more burdens on Syrians trying to flee war-torn country as many pays thousands of dollars for smugglers to enter turkey illegally.
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