One dead after rockets from Syria hit Turkish border town

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Syrian Kurds mourn in the northern town of Afrin during the funeral on February 1, 2018 of fighters from the People's Protection Units (YPG) militia and the Women's Protection Units (YPJ), killed in clashes in the Kurdish enclave in northern Syria on the border with Turkey.  —AFP
Syrian Kurds mourn in the northern town of Afrin during the funeral on February 1, 2018 of fighters from the People's Protection Units (YPG) militia and the Women's Protection Units (YPJ), killed in clashes in the Kurdish enclave in northern Syria on the border with Turkey. —AFP

One person was killed and several others wounded on Friday in a Turkish border town by rockets fired from Syria, local authorities said, as Turkey continues its offensive against a Syrian Kurdish militia.

Three rockets hit several neighbourhoods of Reyhanli in southern Turkey and 68-year-old Rifat Sinirli died in hospital, the state-run news agency Anadolu reported.

Huseyin Sanverdi, mayor of Reyhanli, wrote on Twitter that the man was killed by a rocket fired from Syria's Afrin region, a Kurdish enclave where the Turkish army has launched its offensive against the YPG militia deemed “terrorists” by Ankara.

Two rockets also hit the nearby border town of Kilis, one striking a street and the other an empty field near the state hospital, according to Anadolu.

There were no casualties in Kilis and the Turkish artillery fired in response, the agency reported.

Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said 82 rockets have hit the Turkish border provinces of Kilis and Hatay, including the town of Reyhanli, since the start of the Turkish operation on January 20, killing five people and injuring more than 100.

Turkey says the YPG is an offshoot of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) which has waged a three-decade insurgency against the Turkish state.

But the YPG has been working closely with the United States against the militant Islamic State group in Syria.

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