Turkish border district hit by mortar shell fired from Syria

No casualties were reported.

Local news agencies reported on Wednesday evening that the mortar shell landed in an uninhabited area between Reyhanlı's Yeşilova Street and the border town of Gazimürsel, across the border from the Syrian town of Haram, Idlib province. Local residents panicked at the sound of the explosion, which left a large hole in the ground, media reports said. Security forces have launched an investigation and began collecting evidence in the area. Reyhanlı residents told news outlets that they'd heard two explosions.

In a written statement, the Hatay Governor's Office said that around 6:30 p.m. a mortar shell thought to have been fired from Syria landed in an uninhabited area three kilometers from the Syrian border. The statement said there was no loss of life or property damage, and that border troops have taken the necessary security measures.

According to reports, local residents of the area are worried about their safety and asked Reyhanlı District Governor Yusuf Güler to make sure they are protected. Güler said it was possible that the target was the town of Haram, which, he added, is under rebel control. He also noted that clashes between rebels and forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad have intensified recently and that Assad has stepped up military operations along the border since Turkey downed a Syrian jet on Sunday.

Reyhanlı, a major hub for Syrian refugees, is one of the border districts that has been most affected by the three-year-old Syrian civil war. Mortar shells and bullets fired from Syria during clashes between rebels and regime forces -- or infighting between rebel groups -- have periodically landed in the southeastern district, which was the target of a bomb attack on May 11, 2013. In that incident, a car bomb exploded outside Reyhanlı's town hall while another went off outside a post office, leaving 52 dead and around 150 injured, according to Turkish officials.

Tensions high after Turkey downs Syrian aircraft

Tensions along the Turkish-Syrian border escalated after Turkey downed a Syrian warplane on Sunday.

The Turkish military announced on Thursday that Turkish F16s patrolling the border area on Wednesday were locked onto for 14 times by the neighboring country's SA-2, SA-5 and SA-17 missile systems.

Turkish F-16s had been scrambled to the southern province of Hatay's Yayladağı district to respond to a Syrian SU-24 aircraft that was detected approaching the border. The Syrian aircraft turned around only 1.4 nautical miles from the Turkish border, the statement said.

Since Turkey shot down the Syrian warplane on Sunday, the Turkish military has been issuing daily statements on incidents between the Turkish and Syrian air forces. Turkey shot down the Syrian MiG-23 after it had ignored several warnings and violated Turkish airspace. The timing of the incident, just before Turkey holds municipal elections, has given rise to speculation that it could have been a government attempt to rally public support and distract attention from a sweeping graft probe targeting close allies of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Source: Todays Zaman